Zürcher Nachrichten - Trump issues Iran with ultimatum as US ramps up military presence

"It's proven to be over the years not easy to make a meaningful deal with Iran. We have to make a meaningful deal otherwise bad things happen," Trump told the inaugural meeting of the "Board of Peace", his initiative to secure stability in Gaza.

He warned that Washington "may have to take it a step further" without any agreement, adding: "You're going to be finding out over the next probably 10 days."

Trump's comments came shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued his own warning to Iran saying, "If the ayatollahs make a mistake and attack us, they will receive a response they cannot even imagine".

The warnings were issued days after the US and Iran held a second round of Omani-mediated talks, this time in Geneva, with the US seeking to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear bomb, something it says it is not pursuing, and Iran seeking relief from US sanctions.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt warned on Wednesday there were "many reasons and arguments that one could make for a strike against Iran".

"Iran would be very wise to make a deal with President Trump."

Trump has repeatedly threatened military action against Iran, at first over a deadly crackdown on protesters last month then more recently over its nuclear programme.

Iran's atomic energy chief on Thursday said "no country can deprive Iran of the right" to nuclear enrichment, following fresh US warnings that there were "many reasons" to strike the Islamic republic.

A previous attempt at negotiations collapsed when Israel launched surprise strikes on Iran last June, beginning a 12-day war that Washington briefly joined to bomb Iranian nuclear sites.

- 'Do not want war' -

CNN and CBS reported on Wednesday that the US military would be ready to launch strikes against Iran as early as this weekend, though Trump has reportedly not made a final decision yet.

The Wall Street Journal meanwhile reported that Trump had been briefed on his military options with "all of them designed to maximise damage", including a campaign to "kill scores of Iranian political and military leaders, with the goal of overthrowing the government", unnamed US officials told the newspaper.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said after the latest talks that Tehran had agreed with Washington on "guiding principles", but US Vice President JD Vance said Iran had not yet acknowledged all of Washington's red lines.

Speaking on Wednesday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian insisted "We do not want war" but suggested Tehran could not give in to US demands.

Amid the escalating warnings, Poland on Thursday ordered all its citizens in Iran to "leave immediately".

Germany meanwhile moved troops out of northern Iraq, reducing its footprint to the minimum necessary to keep its base there functional, citing regional tensions.

Russia called for restraint, with a Kremlin spokesperson saying, "We are currently witnessing an unprecedented escalation of tension in the region, but we still hope that political and diplomatic means and negotiations will continue to prevail in the search for a settlement".

- Displays of military might -

Iran has insisted that the talks with the US be limited to the nuclear issue, though Washington has previously pushed for Tehran's ballistic missiles programme and support for armed groups in the region to be on the table.

The US has meanwhile been building up its military forces near Iran, including warships, fighter jets, and refuelling aircraft, laying the foundation for a potentially sustained campaign against Iran -- should Trump give the order.

Washington has ordered a second aircraft carrier to the region, with the first, the USS Abraham Lincoln and its nearly 80 aircraft, positioned about 700 kilometres (435 miles) from the Iranian coast as of Sunday, satellite images showed.

Iran has sought to display its own military might, with its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps holding war games earlier this week in the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian politicians have repeatedly threatened to block the strait, a major global conduit for oil and gas, with fears of a US-Iran conflict sending oil prices surging this week.

The strait carries a quarter of the world's seaborne oil and a fifth of all liquified natural gas according to the International Energy Agency.

L.Zimmermann--NZN