United States President Donald Trump on Wednesday urged Iran to negotiate a nuclear agreement, warning that any future US military action would be far more severe than previous strikes.
In a social media post, Trump said Iran should come to the table and agree to a deal that prevents it from acquiring nuclear weapons, adding that time was running out. He said his previous warning to Tehran had been followed by a military strike and cautioned that the next attack would be much harsher.
Trump also said a US naval force led by an aircraft carrier was moving toward Iran. US officials confirmed earlier this week that the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and accompanying warships had arrived in the Middle East.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he had not been in contact with US special envoy Steve Witkoff in recent days and had not sought negotiations, according to Iranian state media.
US warships began moving from the Asia-Pacific region last week as tensions between Washington and Tehran intensified following a violent crackdown on protests in Iran. Trump has repeatedly said the United States could intervene if Iranian authorities continued killing protesters.
The protests, driven by economic pressures and political restrictions, have since subsided. Trump has said the US would take action if Iran resumed its nuclear programme after June airstrikes by Israeli and US forces on Iranian nuclear facilities.
Meanwhile, Turkiye urged Washington to restart nuclear talks with Tehran as US military forces took up positions in the region. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said attacking Iran or launching another war would be wrong and stated that Iran was ready to return to negotiations on the nuclear issue.
Speaking to Al-Jazeera television, Fidan advised the United States to address disputes with Iran one by one, beginning with the nuclear file before moving on to other issues. He said grouping all disputes together would make negotiations difficult and potentially humiliating for Tehran.
Turkiye, a Nato member that shares a 530-kilometre border with Iran, has long opposed military operations against its neighbour. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last week described the unrest in Iran as a critical test and said Turkiye would oppose any move that could push the region into instability.
Fidan also called on Iran to improve trust with regional countries, saying Tehran needed to consider how its actions were perceived across the region.
