President Donald Trump on Wednesday said Iran will “pay the price” for refusing to accept a deal, as peace negotiations between the two nations remain stalled.
In a post to social media, Trump declared that Iran’s military is “a complete and total mess” and that much of it “doesn’t even exist anymore.”
“They have been completely defeated,” the president wrote. “Iran is all talk and no action. The Bully of the Middle East is DEAD!!! They’ve taken too long to negotiate a deal that would have been great for them, now they will have to pay the price!!!”
Trump did not provide additional details in his post, but he told Fox News that he is “getting close” to ordering new strikes against Iranian power plants and bridges.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But a senior White House official, granted anonymity to discuss sensitive international conversations, said that “talks still continue” and the president “will keep exerting maximum pressure to get a deal done.”
“They should believe every word he says,” the official said. “They know what happens if there’s no deal.”
The president’s threats come after the U.S. launched new strikes at Iran on Tuesday evening after Tehran shot down a military helicopter. Iran responded by firing at U.S. targets across Jordan, Bahrain and Kuwait.
In recent days, Trump and Vice President JD Vance had both insisted a peace deal was near.
“We’re in the final throes of what will be a very, very good deal,” Trump said Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Vance told CBS News that a deal would “absolutely” come before November’s critical midterm elections.
“Look, I think that the deal could happen in the next week, but the deal could also happen months from now,” Vance said.
It’s not the first time administration officials have vowed a deal is imminent. Late last month, Trump said the U.S. and Iran had a near-finalized deal in place, though few details of that purported agreement were released.
However, Trump has made clear a deal will not be signed unless Iran agrees to relinquish all nuclear capabilities.
As negotiations continue to stall, the U.S. joined New Zealand, Australia, Canada and European allies on Wednesday in a joint statement condemning attacks by the Islamic Republic of Iran against “Iranian dissidents, journalists and Jewish and Israeli communities.” The statement, released by the State Department, urged Iran to end such attacks.
“Attempts to kill, kidnap, harass, intimidate, or otherwise attack people on our soil, undermines national sovereignty and international norms,” the countries stated. “These actions must stop immediately. We commend the work of countries to counter these activities, and we are together resolved to undertake further measures to halt them.”
Megan Messerly contributed to this report.