Trump threatens Iran with “very traumatic” consequences. “The second phase will be very tough for them”
Donald Trump. Photo: Enrique Shore / Alamy / Profimedia
US President Donald Trump said on Thursday, a day after receiving Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, that he hopes for a result “in the next month” in the negotiations between Washington and Tehran regarding Iran's nuclear program, reports AFP.
The US leader warned that it would be “very traumatic for Iran if they don't make a deal”.
“We have to make a deal or it will be very traumatic, very traumatic. I don't want that to happen, but we have to make a deal,” Trump told reporters.
Donald Trump, who is considering sending a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East to increase pressure on Iran, evoked US military strikes that targeted Iran's nuclear facilities during the 12-day war between Israel and the Islamic Republic in July 2025.
“We'll see if we can come to an agreement with them, and if not, we'll have to go to phase two. Phase two is going to be very tough on them,” the US president added.
Trump-Netanyahu talk at the White House
Netanyahu traveled to Washington to press Trump to take a tougher approach in nuclear talks with Iran, particularly on targeting Iran's ballistic missile arsenal.
At the end of the meeting he had with the Israeli prime minister on Wednesday, the leader of the United States said that he insisted on the continuation of negotiations with Iran.
In Washington on Thursday, before leaving for Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu said he believed Trump was setting the stage for a deal.
“He believes that these conditions that they are creating, combined with the fact that they certainly understand that they made a mistake last time when they did not reach an agreement, can create the conditions for a good agreement,” Netanyahu said in a video statement.
“I will not hide from you that I have expressed my general skepticism about the quality of any deal with Iran,” he added.
Any deal “must include the elements that are very important from our perspective,” the Israeli prime minister continued, citing Iran's ballistic missile program and Tehran's support for armed groups such as the Palestinian movement Hamas, Yemen's Houthi rebels and Lebanon's Hezbollah.
