President of the United States Donald Trump continues to threaten Iran with possible military strikes if Tehran does not agree to his demands on issues such as nuclear enrichment and ballistic missiles.

In comments published Tuesday by Israeli media outlet Channel 12, Trump hinted that he would take aggressive action if a deal with Iran was not reached.

“Either we make a deal or we’re going to have to take some very tough measures,” Trump told the news media.

The remarks came as Iranian security chief Ali Larijani made the remarks meet Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said discussed the results of last week’s talks between U.S. and Iranian officials.

In recent weeks, Trump has touted U.S. economic growth military force In the area, a “large fleet” was dispatched to nearby waters. The deployment includes the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln.

Channel 12 and news outlet Axios reported on Tuesday that Trump is also considering sending a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East.

That military construction It sparked fears that the United States was about to launch an attack on Iran. Critics fear such attacks could destabilize the region.

On Monday, the United States released guidelines A warning was issued to U.S.-flagged commercial ships, warning them to “stay as far away as possible” from Iranian territorial waters.

“With speed and violence”

Since January, Trump has increased U.S. pressure on Iran, warning that its forces are “loaded and ready to go.”

Trump also compared the situation in Iran to that in Venezuela, where a U.S. military operation on January 3 resulted in the kidnapping and expulsion of deposed President Nicolas Maduro.

“Like Venezuela, (the U.S. military) is ready, willing and able to quickly carry out its mission with speed and violence if necessary. Hopefully Iran will quickly ‘come to the table’ and negotiate a fair and just deal,” Trump wrote Posted on social media on January 28.

Late last month, his government made three overarching demands. They include ending Iran’s uranium enrichment activities, calling for a severing of ties with regional proxies and limiting the country’s ballistic missile stockpile, a long-sought goal by Israel.

Trump spent his first term pulling the United States out of an economic crisis. 2015 Transactions Strict restrictions on Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of sanctions.

Now, Trump has resumed the “maximum pressure” on Iran since his re-election in January 2025.

The action includes tough sanctions and pressure to dismantle Iran’s nuclear program, which Tehran insists is for civilian energy purposes only.

Last June, Trump authorized military strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities as part of a 12-day war between Iran and Israel.

Follow anti-government protests

Trump’s renewed threat in January coincided with a recent wave of anti-government protests in Iran.

The Tehran government has violently suppressed the demonstrations, reportedly killing thousands and drawing widespread condemnation from human rights groups.

Reports found that state security forces opened fire on crowds of protesters as the country was under an internet blackout.

On January 2, the day before military action against Venezuela, Trump threatened to intervene on behalf of the protesters and “come and save them“, although he ultimately refused to do so.

Some analysts noted that the proposed attack on Iran would do little to help protesters but would be consistent with long-term U.S. and Israeli goals of reducing Iran’s military capabilities.

The Iranian government argued that the protests included violent attacks by armed groups on security forces, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of officers. It also accuses outside powers such as the United States and Israel of supporting anti-government demonstrations.

Details about the protests and their crackdown remain difficult to verify, but Iranian officials acknowledge the government’s response led to deaths thousands of people.