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‘We’re going to hit Iran hard today’: Trump presses Tehran to accept deal, says ‘they keep playing us for suckers’
Donald Trump warned that the US would “hit Iran hard” while accusing Tehran of delaying a peace agreement. He nevertheless insisted that a fully negotiated deal remains ready for Iran to sign.
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday warned that the United States would “hit Iran hard today”, while accusing Tehran of dragging its feet on a peace agreement that he claimed was already fully negotiated.
Speaking to reporters, Trump said Washington was prepared to take tougher action against Iran even as diplomatic efforts continued.
“We are going to hit Iran hard today,” Trump said.
The US president also accused Iranian negotiators of delaying a deal that he said would have benefited Tehran.
“We’re going to be attacking them, attacking them very hard,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
“We were really close to a deal, but they keep tapping us along, they keep playing us for suckers.”
Despite the threat of military action, Trump maintained that an agreement remained possible. “I think they are going to want to make a deal,” he said.
According to Trump, the negotiations have already been completed and only require Iran’s approval. “All they have to do is sign the paper. It’s fully negotiated.”
The president once again stressed that preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon remains a central objective of US policy.
“Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, and they won’t, and they have agreed to that,” he said.
Trump also claimed that the United States had been taking steps to disrupt Iranian oil exports, although he did not provide evidence for the assertion.
“We have been taking out millions of barrels of oil. Nobody knows it. You know who doesn’t know about it? Iran, until right now,” he said.
In another striking claim, Trump said the US had recently seized vessels linked to Iran.
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“We took 22 ships the other night, late at night, with no lights because they have no radar,” he said.
The comments come amid renewed tensions between Washington and Tehran following recent military exchanges that have put additional strain on an already fragile ceasefire.
Trump indicated that regional efforts to broker an agreement were continuing and mentioned Pakistan’s involvement in diplomatic contacts.
“Pakistan is still working for a deal with Iran,” he said.
The US president added that he had been engaged in discussions with Iran for several months and again urged Tehran to accept the proposed agreement.
“I have been working with Iran for a number of months, and they should sign the deal. It’s a good deal,” Trump said.
Earlier today, Trump accused Iran of taking too long to negotiate a peace deal and warned it would “have to pay the price”, as the head of the United Nations cautioned against a return to all-out war.
Iran and the US once again traded fire following the downing of an American helicopter, further straining a ceasefire that took effect in April but has been marked by sporadic flare-ups of violence.
The exchange drew international calls for restraint on the eve of the World Cup, which the US is co-hosting and Iran is participating in.
Trump had said on Tuesday that talks to bring about a definitive end to the Middle East war were in the “final throes”, only to offer a starkly different assessment a day later.
“Iran is all talk and no action,” he said on Wednesday. “They’ve taken too long to negotiate a deal that would have been great for them, now they will have to pay the price!!!”
Separately, Trump told a Fox News journalist that because peace talks had stalled, he was getting closer to targeting Iran’s power plants and bridges.
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“I may keep going,” he was quoted as saying. “They had a chance to sign a deal and survive.”‘
In a sign that diplomacy was continuing, however, negotiators from Qatar — which along with Pakistan has been assisting in mediation efforts — travelled to Tehran on Wednesday “to meet with the Iranians in an effort to bridge the remaining gaps”, a diplomat with knowledge of the situation said.