President Donald Trump warned Tuesday that the United States may strike Iran again, a day after he said he had held off a major assault in hope of a deal to end the war — but Tehran’s army threatened to open “new fronts” if he went ahead.
Trump told reporters at the White House that he had been just “an hour away” from relaunching Washington’s attacks on Iran before postponing the order, after weeks of a fragile ceasefire and talks to end the war that began on February 28.
“You know how it is to negotiate with a country where you’re beating them badly. They come to the table, they’re begging to make a deal,” he said.
“I hope we don’t have to do the war, but we may have to give them another big hit. I’m not sure yet.”
But Iran’s army spokesman Mohammad Akraminia earlier warned the Islamic republic would “open new fronts against” the United States if it restarted its attacks.
He added that Iran’s military had used the ceasefire as an opportunity “to strengthen its combat capabilities”.
Trump offered a deadline of several days for resuming strikes if a deal was not agreed.
“I’m saying two or three days, maybe Friday, Saturday, Sunday, something, maybe early next week, a limited period of time,” he said.
Trump’s new deadline came after he said on Monday that Gulf leaders had asked him to hold off on an attack at the 11th hour, which he did because “serious negotiations are taking place”.
But if a deal was not agreed, he said he instructed the US military to be “prepared to go forward with a full, large-scale assault of Iran, on a moment’s notice.”
Trump had already indefinitely extended the truce and made clear he wants to exit a war that has proven to be a political liability, with Iran’s control of the Strait of Hormuz rattling the global economy and hurting Americans at the pump.
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi wrote on X that Trump’s comments meant the US leader was “calling a ‘threat’ a ‘chance for peace’!”
