Olusegun Ariyo
President Donald Trump of the United States on Sunday threatened Iran with bombings and secondary tariffs if Tehran did not come to an agreement with Washington over its nuclear program.
Trump, in a telephone interview with NBC News, said US and Iranian officials were talking but did not elaborate.
“If they don’t make a deal, there will be bombing. But there’s a chance that if they don’t make a deal, that I will do secondary tariffs on them like I did four years ago,” he said.
The Republican, in his first 2017-21 term, withdrew the US from a 2015 deal between Iran and world powers that placed strict limits on Tehran’s disputed nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief.
He also reimposed sweeping US sanctions.
Iran, since then, is said to have far surpassed the agreed limits in its escalating program of uranium enrichment.
Tehran has so far rebuffed Trump’s warning to make a deal or face military consequences.
It was gathered that Iran sent a response through Oman to Trump’s letter in which he urged Tehran to reach a new nuclear deal.
Western powers accuse Iran of having a clandestine agenda to develop nuclear weapons capability by enriching uranium to a high level of fissile purity, above what they say is justifiable for a civilian atomic energy program.
According to Tehran, its nuclear program is wholly for civilian energy purposes.
