Trump warns of \u201ctraumatic\u201d consequences if Tehran failed to agree a deal over nuclear programme
\n Washington
\nThe United States was preparing on Friday to deploy a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East after President Donald Trump warned of \u201ctraumatic\u201d consequences if Tehran failed to agree a deal over its nuclear programme.
\nTensions have escalated between Tehran and its traditional foe Washington following protests last month that rights groups say killed thousands.
\nTrump has made refraining from military action conditional on a deal to curb Iran\u2019s nuclear programme, which the West fears is aimed at making a bomb.
\n\u201cWe have to make a deal, otherwise it\u2019s going to be very traumatic, very traumatic. I don\u2019t want that to happen, but we have to make a deal,\u201d Trump told reporters on Thursday.
\nTrump had already sent one aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, to the Middle East in a warning to Tehran, and multiple US media outlets said a second carrier, the USS Gerald R Ford, and its escort ships would also be sent to the region.
\nThe vessels led by the Ford, currently deployed to the Caribbean, are not expected to return to their home ports until late April or early May, the New York Times said.
\nRepresentatives of Iran and the United States, who have had no diplomatic relations since shortly after the revolution, held talks on the nuclear programme last week in Oman.
\nWhile no dates have been set for new talks, there have been indications that Trump is upbeat about the prospects for a deal.
\nIsrael\u2019s Benjamin Netanyahu said after meeting Trump in Washington that the US leader believed he may clinch a \u201cgood deal\u201d, though the Israeli prime minister himself expressed scepticism at the quality of any agreement if it didn\u2019t also cover Iran\u2019s ballistic missiles.
\nThe United States joined Israel\u2019s 12-day war against Iran in June, carrying out strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
\nBut there is no consensus on what Washington would target in new strikes or whether it would seek to slacken supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei\u2019s grip on power.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Trump warns of \u201ctraumatic\u201d consequences if Tehran failed to agree a deal over nuclear programme Washington The United States was preparing on Friday to deploy a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East after President Donald Trump warned of \u201ctraumatic\u201d consequences if Tehran failed to agree a deal over its nuclear programme. Tensions have escalated […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":531131,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-531255","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n