White House Renews Trump's Threat to Iran: Tehran Can Be Dealt with Hard

The White House has again threatened Iran, with Trump reiterating that Tehran can be dealt with either militarily or through a deal, in response to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who said Saturday that his country would not enter into negotiations under the pressure of "bullying."

"Dealing with Tehran will be either 'military or through a deal,'" White House National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said in a statement, a phrase Trump had made in an interview with Fox Business earlier.

"We hope the Iranian regime will put its people and interests above terrorism," Hughes added.

The US President announced on Friday that he had sent a letter to the Iranian Supreme Leader, giving him a choice between negotiating over the nuclear program or facing military action.

Iran's state media quoted Khamenei as saying during a meeting with senior Iranian officials that Washington's offer to start negotiations was aimed at "imposing its desires."

The Iranian leader added - without mentioning Trump by name - that "the insistence of some governments that practice bullying on negotiations is not to resolve the issues."

He believed that the talks for those governments are a way to present new demands, and it is not only related to the Iranian nuclear issue, and Iran will certainly not accept their desires.

Trump had previously expressed his willingness to reach an agreement with Tehran, but he reimposed the "maximum pressure" policy he implemented during his first term to isolate Iran from the global economy and reduce its oil exports to zero.

During his first term in office, from 2017 to 2021, Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, which imposed strict restrictions on Tehran's nuclear activities in exchange for lifting sanctions.