US President Donald Trump. Photo: Mark Schiefelbein / AP / Profimedia
The supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, “should be very worried now”, US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday in a fragment of an interview broadcast by NBC, reports AFP, quoted by Agerpres.
“I think he should be very worried now. As you know, they are negotiating with us,” the US president said.
He made this comment while, according to the website Axios, the talks scheduled for Friday between the United States and Iran are on the verge of failure due to differences over the venue and agenda.
Donald Trump has deployed a considerable air and naval strike force near Iran, which he has not ruled out using if Tehran does not accept a series of American demands regarding its nuclear program, its ballistic missiles, the armed groups it supports in the region and the treatment of protesters.
The American president also assured NBC that the Iranian authorities are considering opening a new nuclear site after the American attacks against their facilities in June.
“They were thinking of opening a new site in another part of the country,” he said, adding: “We discovered it and I told them, if you do this, we will make you suffer very hard.”
US Navy's USS Abraham Lincoln shot down an 'aggressively' approaching Iranian Shahed drone / Separate incident involving an oil tanker harassed by the IRGC
Increased US military presence in the region
The USS Abraham Lincoln is in the Middle East after President Donald Trump said last week that “a massive armada is headed for Iran.”
“It is moving quickly, with great power, enthusiasm and determination. It is a larger fleet than the one sent to Venezuela, led by the great aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln. As with Venezuela, it is ready, willing and able to accomplish its mission quickly, with speed and violence if necessary,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “We hope that Iran will quickly come to the negotiating table and negotiate a fair and just deal – NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS – one that is beneficial to all parties. Time is running out, it really is critical!” the White House leader added.
The Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group is the most visible part of the US military buildup in the Middle East after last month's violent crackdown on anti-government demonstrations, Iran's bloodiest domestic unrest since the 1979 revolution.
Trump, who did not follow through on threats to intervene during the crackdown, has since asked Tehran to make nuclear concessions and sent a flotilla to the Asian country's coast.
The US president said last week that Iran was “in serious talks”, while Ali Larijani, Tehran's top security official, said preparations were being made for negotiations.
