US President Donald Trump has sent a fresh warning to Iran hours after calling off strikes as the truce deadlock continues between the two countries.
“I hope we don’t have to do the war, but we may have to give
them another big hit… I’m not sure yet. You’ll know very soon,” Trump said.
The US president said he is giving Iran “a limited period of time” to make a deal “because we can’t let them have a nuclear weapon.”
“There’s no question in my mind that they’d use it, there’s no question—and I deal with these people. They’re extremely radicalised,” he added.
.@POTUS on Iran: “I hope we don’t have to do the war, but we may have to give them another big hit… I’m not sure yet. You’ll know very soon.” pic.twitter.com/flrdqFP2ly
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) May 19, 2026
At present, a fragile ceasefire between Washington and Tehran has been in place since April 8, after both sides exchanged proposals through intermediaries in an effort to end the Middle East conflict that began with US strikes on February 28.
Trump said he was just an hour away to order US forces to launch strikes on Iran. “We were all set to go… it would have been happening right now,” he added.
Earlier, in a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said Gulf leaders had asked him “to hold off on our planned Military attack of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
But Trump added he had instructed the US military to be “prepared to go forward with a full, large-scale assault of Iran, on a moment’s notice, in the event that an acceptable Deal is not reached”.
Reacting to Trump’s remark, Iran’s army has warned that it would “open new fronts” against the United States if it resumes attacks.
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi wrote on X that Trump’s comments meant the US leader was “calling a ‘threat’ a ‘chance for peace’!”
On Tuesday, Iran’s army spokesman Mohammad Akraminia earlier warned the Islamic republic would “open new fronts against” the United States if it resumes attacks. He added that Iran’s military had used the ceasefire as an opportunity “to strengthen its combat capabilities”, without elaborating.
After the threat, the United Arab Emirates said a drone attack on its Barakah nuclear power plant on Sunday had originated from Iraqi territory, where Iran backs groups accused of launching attacks on Gulf nations in the Middle East war.
“As part of the ongoing investigation into the blatant attack on the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant on May 17, 2026, technical tracking and monitoring confirmed that the three drones… all originated from Iraqi territory,” the Emirati defence ministry said.
A top Emirati official had already suggested Iran or one of its regional proxies was to blame.
Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari told reporters that “more time” was needed for the ongoing Pakistani-mediated efforts to push for Iran-US talks to reach a deal to end the war.
