WASHINGTON, Jan 28 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump urged Iran on Wednesday to come to the table and make a deal on nuclear weapons or the next U.S. attack would be far worse.
"Hopefully Iran will quickly 'Come to the Table' and negotiate a fair and equitable deal - NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS - one that is good for all parties. Time is running out, it is truly of the essence!" Trump wrote in a social media post.
The Republican U.S. president, who during his first White House term pulled out of world
powers' 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran, noted that his last warning to Iran was followed by a military strike in June.
"The next attack will be far worse! Don’t make that happen again," Trump wrote. He also repeated that a U.S. "armada" was heading toward the Islamic Republic.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said he had not been in contact with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff in recent days or requested negotiations, state media reported on Wednesday.
Trump said a U.S. naval force headed by the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, was approaching Iran. Two U.S. officials told Reuters on Monday that the Lincoln and supporting warships had arrived in the Middle East.
The warships started moving from the Asia-Pacific region last week as U.S.-Iranian tensions soared following a bloody crackdown on protests across Iran by its clerical authorities in recent weeks.
Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene if Iran continued to kill protesters, but the countrywide demonstrations over economic privations and political repression have since abated.
He has said the United States would act if Tehran resumed its nuclear program after the June airstrikes by Israeli and U.S. forces on key nuclear installations.
(Reporting by Doina Chiacu and Susan Heavey; editing by Andrew Heavens and Mark Heinrich)
