Iran says to target U.S. bases if conflict breaks out
Iranian domestically-built missile and drone are displayed during the Basij paramilitary force parade in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran threatened Wednesday to target U.S. military bases in the region if conflict breaks out, while President Donald Trump said he was 'less confident' about reaching a nuclear deal.
Amid escalating tensions, a U.S. official said staff levels at the embassy in Iraq were being reduced over security concerns, while the UK Maritime Trade Operations, run by the British navy, advised ships to transit the Gulf with caution.
Tehran and Washington have held five rounds of talks since April to thrash out a new nuclear deal to replace the 2015 accord that Trump abandoned during his first term in 2018.
Since returning to office in January, Trump has revived his 'maximum pressure' campaign on Tehran, backing nuclear diplomacy but warning of military action if it fails.
'All its bases are within our reach, we have access to them, and without hesitation we will target all of them in the host countries,' Iran's Defence Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh said in response to U.S. threats of military action if the talks fail.
'God willing, things won't reach that point, and the talks will succeed,' the minister said, adding that the U.S. side 'will suffer more losses' if it came to conflict.
The United States has multiple bases in the Middle East, with the largest located in Qatar.
Iran and the United States have recently been locked in a diplomatic standoff over Iran's uranium enrichment, with Tehran defending it as a 'non-negotiable' right and Washington calling it as a 'red line'.
Trump had previously expressed optimism about the talks, saying during a Gulf tour last month Washington was 'getting close' to securing a deal.
But in an interview published Wednesday, Trump said he was 'less confident' the United States and Iran could reach a deal, in response to a question on whether he believed he could stop Tehran from enriching uranium.
'A shame'
Iran currently enriches uranium to 60 percent, far above the 3.67-per cent limit set in the 2015 deal and close though still short of the 90 per cent needed for a nuclear warhead.
Western countries, including the United States and its ally Israel, have long accused Iran of seeking to acquire atomic weapons, while Tehran insists its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes.
Last week, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said enrichment is 'key' to Iran's nuclear programme and that Washington 'cannot have a say' on the issue.
During the interview with the New York Post's podcast 'Pod Force One', which was recorded on Monday, Trump said he was losing hope a deal could be reached.
'I don't know. I did think so, and I'm getting more and more -- less confident about it. They seem to be delaying and I think that's a shame. I am less confident now than I would have been a couple of months ago,' he said.
'Something happened to them but I am much less confident of a deal being made... Maybe they don't wanna make a deal, what can I say? And maybe they do. There is nothing final.'
Trump maintained that Washington would not allow Tehran to obtain nuclear weapons, saying 'it would be nicer to do it without warfare, without people dying'.
On May 31, after the fifth round of talks, Iran said it had received 'elements' of a U.S. proposal for a nuclear deal, with Araghchi later saying the text contained 'ambiguities'.
Iran has said it will present a counter-proposal to the latest draft from Washington, which it had criticised for failing to offer relief from sanctions -- a key demand for Tehran, which has been reeling under their weight for years.
On Monday, the United Nations nuclear watchdog began a Board of Governors meeting in Vienna that will last until Friday to discuss Iran's atomic activities and other issues.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) meeting followed a report issued by it criticising 'less than satisfactory' cooperation from Tehran, particularly in explaining past cases of nuclear material found at undeclared sites.
Iran has criticised the IAEA report as unbalanced, saying it relied on 'forged documents' provided by its arch-foe Israel.
In January 2020, Iran fired missiles at bases in Iraq housing American troops in retaliation for the U.S. strike that killed top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani days before at Baghdad airport.
Dozens of U.S. soldiers suffered traumatic brain injuries.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
Trump administration's use of troops to help with immigration raids faces test in court
A man shouts into a megaphone outside City Hall during protests over federal immigration enforcement raids on Wednesday, June 11, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope) U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem promised Thursday to move forward with the Trump administration's immigration crackdown in Los Angeles despite the waves of unrest that have followed, saying agents have thousands of targets. 'This is only going to continue until we have peace on the streets of Los Angeles,' she said during a news conference that was interrupted by shouting from U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, a California Democrat who was forcibly removed from the event. Noem spoke hours before U.S. President Donald Trump's use of troops to help carry out immigration raids faced its biggest challenge yet when a federal judge began weighing a request from California Gov. Gavin Newsom to put an emergency stop to the practice. Newsom has warned that the military intervention is part of a broader effort by Trump to overturn norms at the heart of the nation's democracy. He also said that sending National Guard troops on the raids has further inflamed tensions in Los Angeles, where large and sometimes volatile protests have broken out since the crackdown began nearly a week ago. So far, the protests have been centrfed mostly in downtown L.A. near City Hall and a federal detention centre where some immigrants are being held. Much of the sprawling city has been spared from the protests. The Trump administration on Wednesday called Newsom's lawsuit a 'crass political stunt endangering American lives.' The hearing Thursday in San Francisco opened with Senior U.S. District Court Judge Charles R. Breyer asking attorneys whether Trump followed the law when he called in the National Guard. 'We're talking about the president exercising his authority, and the president is, of course, limited in that authority,' Breyer said. 'That's the difference between a constitutional government and King George.' The judge added: 'This country was founded in response to a monarch, and the constitution is a document of limitations. I'm trying to figure out where the lines are drawn.' Demonstrations have picked up across the U.S., with protests emerging in more than a dozen major cities. On Wednesday, police in Seattle used pepper spray to clear out protesters, and officers in Denver used smoke and pepper balls to control a crowd. Police in riot gear — many on horseback — charged at a group of protesters Wednesday night in L.A. just before the start of the second night of the city's downtown curfew. The officers struck some demonstrators with wooden rods and later fired crowd-control projectiles. After the curfew went into effect, a handful of arrests were made before the area cleared out. Noem calls action in L.A. a blueprint The immigration agents conducting the raids in L.A. are 'putting together a model and a blueprint' for other communities, Noem said. She pledged that federal authorities 'are not going away,' even though, she said, officers have been hit with rocks and bricks and assaulted. She said people with criminal records who are in the country illegally and violent protesters will 'face consequences.' 'Just because you think you're here as a citizen, or because you're a member of a certain group or you're not a citizen, it doesn't mean that you're going to be protected and not face consequences from the laws that this country stands for,' she said. Noem criticized the California senator's interruption, calling it 'inappropriate.' A statement from her agency said Noem and Padilla met after the news conference for about 15 minutes, but it also chided him for 'disrespectful political theater.' Padilla said later that he was demanding answers about the 'increasingly extreme immigration enforcement actions' and only wanted to ask Noem a question. He said he was handcuffed but not arrested. 'If this is how this administration responds to a senator with a question, I can only imagine what they are doing to farm workers, to cooks, to day laborers throughout the Los Angeles community,' he said. Military involvement escalates in L.A. The Trump administration has rapidly expanded military deployments to Los Angeles over the past week and has said it is willing to send troops to other cities to assist with immigration enforcement and controlling disturbances — in line with what Trump promised during last year's campaign. Some 2,000 Guard soldiers are in the nation's second-largest city and are soon to be joined by 2,000 more, along with about 700 Marines, said Maj. Gen. Scott Sherman, who's in charge of the operation. About 500 of the Guard troops deployed to the Los Angeles protests have been trained to accompany agents on immigration operations, the commander said Wednesday. The Guard has the authority to temporarily detain people who attack officers, but any arrests must be made by law enforcement. While some troops have already gone on such missions, he said it's too early to say if that will continue even after the protests die down. 'We are expecting a ramp-up,' Sherman said, noting that protests across the nation were being discussed. 'I'm focused right here in LA, what's going on right here. But you know, I think we're, we're very concerned.' States face questions on deploying troops With more demonstrations expected over the weekend, and the possibility that Trump could send troops to other states for immigration enforcement, governors are weighing what to do. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, has put 5,000 National Guard members on standby in cities where demonstrations are planned. In other Republican-controlled states, governors have not said when or how they're planning to deploy troops for protests. A group of Democratic governors earlier this week signed a statement calling Trump's deployments 'an alarming abuse of power.' 'Illinois follows the law. But let me be clear: We expect the federal government to follow the law too,' Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said Thursday during a Capitol Hill hearing on state immigration policies. 'We will not participate in abuses of power.' Hundreds have been arrested in L.A. protests Los Angeles police have made about 470 arrests since Saturday, the vast majority of which were for failing to leave the area at the request of law enforcement, according to the police department. There have been a handful of more serious charges, including for assault against police officers and for possession of a Molotov cocktail and a gun. Nine police officers have been hurt, mostly with minor injures. Some were transported to a hospital and released. Rodriguez reported from San Francisco and Seewer reported from Toledo, Ohio. Associated Press writers Julie Watson in San Diego, Jesse Bedayn in Denver, and Jim Vertuno in Austin, Texas, contributed to this report
Toronto Star
an hour ago
- Toronto Star
What to know about ‘No Kings' protests against Trump's policies
Opponents of President Donald Trump's administration are set to rally in hundreds of cities on Saturday during the military parade in Washington to mark the Army's 250th anniversary, which coincides with Trump's birthday. The 'No Kings' protests are set to take place to counter what organizers say are Trump's plans to feed his ego on his 79th birthday and Flag Day. 'No Kings' will follow several days of nationwide protests against federal immigration raids including in Los Angeles, where Trump's deployment of the National Guard further agitated his opponents.
Toronto Star
an hour ago
- Toronto Star
House passes bill to to combat fentanyl trafficking, sending it to Trump's desk
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House overwhelmingly passed bipartisan legislation Thursday that would solidify federal policies cracking down on the synthetic opioid fentanyl and its analogs in a bid by lawmakers to combat the nation's opioid epidemic. The HALT Fentanyl Act makes permanent a 2018 emergency rule that classifies knockoffs of fentanyl as Schedule I controlled substances, which results in harsher sentences for possession of the drug. The bill passed the House 321-104 and now heads to President Donald Trump for his signature.
