Iran threatened on Wednesday (June 11, 2025) to target U.S. navy bases within the area if conflict breaks out, whereas President Donald Trump mentioned he was “less confident” about reaching a nuclear deal.
Amid escalating tensions, a U.S. official mentioned workers ranges on the embassy in Iraq had been being diminished over safety issues, whereas the U.Ok. Maritime Trade Operations, run by the British navy, suggested ships to transit the Gulf with warning.
Also learn: Iran says sixth spherical of U.S. talks deliberate for June 15
Tehran and Washington have held 5 rounds of talks since April to thrash out a brand new nuclear deal to exchange the 2015 accord that Mr. Trump deserted throughout his first time period in 2018.
Since returning to workplace in January, Mr. Trump has revived his “maximum pressure” marketing campaign on Tehran, backing nuclear diplomacy however warning of navy motion if it fails.
“All its bases are within our reach; we have access to them, and without hesitation we will target all of them in the host countries,” Iran’s Defence Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh mentioned in response to U.S. threats of navy motion if the talks fail.
“God willing, things won’t reach that point, and the talks will succeed,” the Minister mentioned, including that the U.S. facet “will suffer more losses” if it got here to conflict.
The United States has a number of bases within the Middle East, with the most important positioned in Qatar.
Iran and the United States have not too long ago been locked in a diplomatic standoff over Iran’s uranium enrichment, with Tehran defending it as a “non-negotiable” proper and Washington calling it as a “red line”.
Mr. Trump had beforehand expressed optimism concerning the talks, saying throughout a Gulf tour final month Washington was “getting close” to securing a deal.
But in an interview printed on Wednesday (June 11, 2025), Mr. Trump mentioned he was “less confident” the United States and Iran might attain a deal, in response to a query on whether or not he believed he might cease Tehran from enriching uranium.
‘A shame’
Iran presently enriches uranium to 60%, far above the three.67% restrict set within the 2015 deal and shut, although nonetheless quick, of the 90% wanted for a nuclear warhead.
Western international locations, together with the United States and its ally Israel, have lengthy accused Iran of in search of to purchase atomic weapons, whereas Tehran insists its nuclear programme is for peaceable functions.
Last week, Iran’s supreme chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei mentioned enrichment is “key” to Iran’s nuclear programme and that Washington “cannot have a say” on the problem.
Also learn: Iran says no sanctions reduction in U.S. nuclear proposal
During the interview with the New York Post’s podcast “Pod Force One”, which was recorded on Monday (June 9, 2025), Mr. Trump mentioned he was dropping hope a deal might be reached.
“I don’t know. I did think so, and I’m getting more and more — less confident about it. They seem to be delaying and I think that’s a shame. I am less confident now than I would have been a couple of months ago,” he mentioned.
“Something happened to them but I am much less confident of a deal being made… Maybe they don’t want to make a deal; what can I say? And maybe they do. There is nothing final.”
Mr. Trump maintained that Washington wouldn’t enable Tehran to get hold of nuclear weapons, saying, “It would be nicer to do it without warfare, without people dying”.
On May 31, after the fifth spherical of talks, Iran mentioned it had acquired “elements” of a U.S. proposal for a nuclear deal, with Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi later saying the textual content contained “ambiguities”.
Iran has mentioned it’ll current a counter-proposal to the most recent draft from Washington, which it had criticised for failing to provide reduction from sanctions — a key demand for Tehran, which has been reeling below their weight for years.
On Monday (June 9, 2025), the United Nations nuclear watchdog started a Board of Governors assembly in Vienna that can final till Friday (June 13, 2025) to talk about Iran’s atomic actions and different points.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) assembly adopted a report issued by it criticising “less than satisfactory” cooperation from Tehran, significantly in explaining previous circumstances of nuclear materials discovered at undeclared websites.
Iran has criticised the IAEA report as unbalanced, saying it relied on “forged documents” supplied by its arch-foe Israel.
Also learn: Who was General Qasem Soleimani and why was he so fashionable?
In January 2020, Iran fired missiles at bases in Iraq housing American troops in retaliation for the U.S. strike that killed prime Iranian basic Qassem Soleimani days earlier than at Baghdad airport.
Dozens of U.S. troopers suffered traumatic mind accidents.
Published – June 12, 2025 10:50 am IST
