US President Donald Trump has warned Iran to move quickly as he seeks a nuclear deal and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
“For Iran, the clock is ticking, and they better get moving, fast, or there won’t be anything left of them,” Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday. “Time is of the essence,” he added, using all capital letters.
Mr Trump has previously warned that the US would wipe out Iranian energy infrastructure and bridges, and even threatened to wipe out “a whole civilisation” before backing down.
On Saturday, Mr Trump posted an AI-generated image of him standing on a ship along with an admiral in front of Iran-flagged vessels.
"It was the calm before the storm," the image reads.
A senior spokesperson for the Iranian armed forces, Abolfazl Shekarchi, said on Sunday that if Mr Trump's threats were carried out, the US would "face new, aggressive, and surprise scenarios, and sink into a self-made quagmire".
Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said the US and Israel had tried to shift the blame for destabilising energy markets following their "unprovoked military aggression against Iran".
Mr Trump's comments on Sunday came shortly after the Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a close ally of Mr Trump, called for the US military to take new action against Iran. Speaking to NBC on Sunday, he said the US should strike Iran’s energy infrastructure.
“I am calling to hurt this regime. If you do the same old thing, you’re going to get the same results,” Mr Graham said. “Hurt them more, maybe they’ll make a deal if you hurt them enough.”
He accused Iran of “playing games” and said it is stalling on making any deal or reopening the Strait of Hormuz. “The status quo is hurting us all. The longer the [Strait of Hormuz] is closed, the more we try to pursue a deal that never happens, the stronger Iran gets,” he added.
Mr Graham is a noted Iran hawk and has previously encouraged Mr Trump to take action against the country. Mr Trump last week drew scorn after he said he wasn't thinking about Americans' financial health, “not even a little bit”, in making decisions about the war in Iran, and making a deal to end it.
Mr Graham defended the President's comments, which have handed Democrats a powerful message ahead of November's midterm elections, saying any backlash would be worth it. “It’s worth losing my job. If I had to give my job up to make sure Iran would never have a nuclear weapon, I would do it,” he said.
