Trump warns Iran to accept deal or US will ‘finish the job’

President Donald Trump on Monday renewed his threat of military action against Iran, warning that the United States would either reach a deal with Tehran or destroy what remains of the country's infrastructure. The remarks came as U.S.-Iran negotiations are paused during the multi-day funeral of slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

"We're either going to make a deal or we're going to finish the job," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. "And it won't be tough to finish the job."reuters+1

A Deal or Destruction

Trump said he would prefer a diplomatic resolution, citing the impact on Iran's civilian population. "I'd rather make a deal because I don't want to affect 91 million people," he said. "We can knock down their bridges in one hour. We can knock out their energy supply."cbsnews+1

The president also claimed the U.S. had already dismantled Iran's military capabilities, saying Iran's 159 naval vessels had been sunk and that the country no longer had functioning radar or aircraft. He reiterated that the central aim of the war, launched jointly with Israel on Feb. 28, was to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.jpost

"I went in for one reason — very strongly — that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon," Trump said. "I'm not looking for regime change, although this is regime change. The first regime is gone, the second regime is gone, and I think the third regime is more reasonable."jpost

Negotiations Stalled Amid Funeral and Unresolved Nuclear Issues

The warning comes as formal talks between Washington and Tehran are suspended during six days of funeral ceremonies for Khamenei, who was killed alongside several family members in the opening airstrikes of the war. Hundreds of thousands of mourners packed Tehran's streets on Monday for the main funeral procession, with burial scheduled for Thursday in Mashhad.aljazeera+2

The two sides signed a 14-point memorandum of understanding on June 17 that established a ceasefire, began reopening the Strait of Hormuz, and set a 60-day window to negotiate a final agreement addressing Iran's nuclear program and sanctions relief. But progress has been slow. A round of indirect talks in Doha concluded on July 1 with no headway on nuclear issues, according to Reuters Thomson Reuters Corporation ↘ 0.09%, with negotiators instead revisiting matters supposedly already settled in the initial deal.apnews+2

Competing Pressures

Iran has hardened its stance, with Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei declaring that talks on a final agreement will remain frozen until Washington fulfills its commitments under the memorandum, including easing sanctions and restoring shipping arrangements. Meanwhile, at Khamenei's funeral, speakers and mourners called openly for revenge against Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.youtube+2

Trump, speaking at Mount Rushmore on the eve of July Fourth, had offered a different tone, saying he gave Iran "a week off for a funeral because we're nice." With the 60-day negotiating window now approaching its midpoint, the gap between Washington's demands for full denuclearization and Tehran's insistence on sanctions relief first shows no sign of narrowing.cbsnews