By Sean Rayment
US President Donald Trump has warned that a “massive armada” of US warships is “moving quickly” towards Iran.
The US president threatened to launch a sustained attack against the Islamic regime if Tehran did not agree to a new deal banning nuclear weapons.
Mr Trump said: “A massive armada is heading to Iran. It is moving quickly, with great power, enthusiasm and purpose. It is a larger fleet, headed by the great aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln, than that sent to Venezuela.
“Like with Venezuela, it is ready, willing and able to rapidly fulfil its mission, with speed and violence if necessary. Hopefully Iran will quickly come to the table and negotiate a fair and equitable deal, no nuclear weapons, one that is good for all parties.”
Mr Trump added: “Time is running out. It is truly of the essence. As I told Iran once before, make a deal.”
The president warned that a US attack would be far worse than Operation Midnight Hammer, when US bunker-busting bombs and missiles hit three of Iran’s nuclear facilities in June last year.
“Don’t make that happen again,” the president said.
Iran responded by warning the US that “if pushed, it will defend itself and respond like never before”.
“Last time the US blundered into wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, it squandered over $7 trillion and lost more than 7,000 American lives,” a post on X from the official account of the Iranian mission to the UN read.
“Iran stands ready for dialogue based on mutual respect and interests. But if pushed, it will defend itself and respond like never before.”
Since early January, Mr Trump has issued repeated threats against Iranian authorities if they fired on peaceful protesters, warnings which have been largely ignored.
The president has recently received intelligence reports suggesting the Iranian government’s grip on power is at its weakest since the overthrow of the Shah in 1979, The New York Times reported on Monday.
US government officials are reportedly considering striking multiple Iranian military targets, including weapons caches or select members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.
The US has spent weeks quietly moving fighter jets, heavy transport aircraft and the USS Abraham Lincoln, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier accompanied by a strike group of smaller ships, to the region.
Iran’s regime has been substantially weakened over the past year following US strikes on its nuclear facilities, the 12-day war with Israel, rampant inflation and protests that have gripped its streets and led to bloody clashes between authorities and demonstrators.
Mr Trump told Axios in an interview published on Tuesday that Iranian leaders had “called on numerous occasions” and “want to make a deal”, citing the armada headed by the Lincoln building up around the country.
Meanwhile, estimates of the number of civilians killed in protests across the country vary substantially and are partly hampered by an ongoing internet shutdown.
The Iranian government has acknowledged more than 3,000 deaths. The US-based organisation HRANA, whose figures have been reliable during previous crackdowns, says it has verified more than 6,000 deaths and has a further 17,000 recorded deaths under investigation, giving a possible total of about 22,000. Other estimates from doctors based outside Iran range as high as 33,000 or more.
