Trump warns Iran of ‘something bad’ in renewed threat despite Tehran’s outright rejection of intimidation

US President Donald Trump has re-escalated his hostile rhetoric against Iran, warning of unspecified consequences if Tehran fails to act swiftly on what he called an American “proposal.”

Speaking aboard Air Force One after concluding a Persian Gulf tour on Friday, the US president said that the Islamic Republic had received the alleged proposal from his administration and cautioned about what he referred to as Tehran’s not heeding the urgency of a response.

“They have a proposal. More importantly, they know they have to move quickly or something bad—something bad’s going to happen,” he told reporters.

Tehran has not yet made any comments about the alleged proposal.

Throughout his previous tenure as the US president from 2017 to 2021, and his underway incumbency, Trump has rarely abandoned his adversarial language concerning Iran.

He has maintained the discourse, although the two sides have been engaged in indirect talks since April.

The rhetoric has compounded his deployment of the so-called “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran.

The campaign, initiated under his previous presidential term, saw him take the United States out of a historic 2015 nuclear deal between the Islamic Republic and world countries, re-introduce Washington’s sanctions on the Iranian nation, and even begin levying more coercive economic measures.

Iranian authorities have, however, unexceptionally rejected Washington’s intimidatory approach and warned about its contradiction with diplomacy.

Most recently, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi emphasized that Iran would not dismantle any of its nuclear facilities — as repeatedly pursued by the US and some of its allies.