US President Donald Trump recently confirmed that Washington is deploying a very large naval fleet toward Iran. According to Trump, this force is even stronger than anything the US has deployed in previous pressure campaigns, including during tensions with Venezuela, and is led by the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln – a symbol of US naval power.
According to a post on Truth Social, President Trump emphasized that the fleet was deployed with a clear objective: to force Iran back to the negotiating table and reach a "fair, transparent, and absolutely nuclear-free" agreement. He warned that time was running out for Tehran, and asserted that U.S. forces were prepared to act swiftly and with overwhelming force if diplomatic efforts continued to be ignored.
Trump also recalled past precedents, when the Iranian government was warned to negotiate but ignored the warnings, leading to serious consequences for its infrastructure and military capabilities. The US president declared that if a confrontation scenario were to repeat itself, the next response would be far more devastating, and he urged Iran not to let history repeat itself.
Previously, the Tehran government had denied reports that Iran had proactively contacted or offered negotiations with the US. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi asserted that there had been no direct contact recently between Iran and US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff. According to him, although some mediating countries have attempted to connect the two sides, Iran has not yet made any official request or decision regarding the reopening of dialogue.
Foreign Minister Araqchi also emphasized Tehran's firm stance, stating that negotiations cannot take place under military threats. He declared that Iran is only ready for dialogue when all coercive pressures, demands, and warnings are removed, and affirmed that the country maintains contact with mediators in a spirit of goodwill but with caution.
