*Hands Tehran 10-Day Deadline
President Donald Trump on Thursday warned Iran that “bad things” will happen if no deal is reached on both countries’ nuclear talks and appeared to set a 10-day deadline before the US might take action.
During the first Board of Peace meeting, Trump said negotiations with Iran were going well but insisted that Tehran has to reach a “meaningful” agreement. “Otherwise, bad things happen,” he vowed.
The President first announced the Board of Peace initiative at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos last month, presenting it as part of Phase Two of his U.N.-endorsed 20-point peace plan for Gaza.
Trump, at Thursday’s meeting, spoke of the airstrikes the US carried out in June on Iran’s nuclear facilities, claiming that the country’s nuclear potential had been “decimated.”
“We may have to take it a step further or we may not,” he said, hinting that he could take a decision very soon.
“You’ll be finding out over the next probably 10 days,” he said.
Trump’s comments follow months of massive US military buildup of aircraft carriers, warships and jets in the region – its largest since the 2003 invasion of Iraq – that has fuelled fears that a full-scale attack on Iran could be imminent.
Iranian and US negotiators met on Tuesday and Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said they had agreed on “guiding principles.”
But White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Wednesday that the two sides remained apart on some issues.
Trump said “good talks are being had,” and a senior US official told Reuters that Iran would make a written proposal on how to address US concerns.
Trump, meanwhile, called on Tehran to join the US on the “path to peace.”
“They can’t have a nuclear weapon, it’s very simple. You can’t have peace in the Middle East if they have a nuclear weapon,” Trump emphasized.
