President Donald Trump spared pointed words for Iran Thursday during the first meeting of his Board of Peace initiative.
Backdropping that panel is the military pressure building in the Middle East as the U.S. repeats its warnings to Iran to strike a new deal to manage its nuclear ambitions.
The president on Thursday gave Iran a deadline of 10 to 15 days to reach what he called a meaningful deal or otherwise, "bad things happen."
“It’s proven to be, over the years, not easy to make a meaningful deal with Iran, and we have to make a meaningful deal. Otherwise, bad things happen,” he said.
He declined to share specifics about any potential military action.
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The President was briefed by Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and his son in law, Jared Kushner, Wednesday on the outcomes of talks in Geneva with Iran.
But White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt warned Wednesday the two countries were “still very far apart on some issues.”
Iran is expected to return proposals that address at least some of those issues over the next two weeks, according to a US official.
A complete buildup of U.S. military forces near Iran, meanwhile, is also expected within the next weeks, according to a senior U.S. official who spoke to the Associated Press.
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Iran sent a letter to the U.N. Security Council Thursday saying it would match any aggression from the U.S. "decisively and proportionately."
“In such circumstances, all bases, facilities, and assets of the hostile force in the region would constitute legitimate targets in the context of Iran’s defensive response,” the letter read.
