U.S. President Donald Trump threatened Iran with bombings and secondary tariffs if the country does not come to an agreement with his administration about its nuclear program.
“If they don’t make a deal, there will be bombing,” Trump said during a phone call with NBC News’ Kristen Welker on Sunday.
He added: “There’s a chance that if they don’t make a deal, that I will do secondary tariffs on them like I did four years ago that brought them to a position that they very much wanted to be.”
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Sunday that Iran had rejected direct negotiations with the United States in response to a letter from Trump over its nuclear program.
“Although the possibility of direct negotiations between the two sides has been rejected in this response, it has been emphasized that the path for indirect negotiations remains open,” Pezeshkian said.
Tensions have escalated between Iran and the U.S. since Trump returned to the White House, with his administration repeatedly insisting that Iran cannot acquire a nuclear weapon. During his first term in office, Trump withdrew the United States from a treaty with Iran that was meant to end its nuclear ambitions and then repeatedly accused Iran of not upholding its end of the bargain. China, Russia, France, Germany, Britain and the European Union were also part of that 2015 treaty.
Earlier this month, the president threatened military action against Iran over its backing of Yemen’s Houthis, saying further strikes from the militant group will be viewed as a direct attack from Iran and be met with “great force.”