Trump warns Iran: Give up the nuclear push or face 'your worst nightmare'

President Donald Trump addressed efforts to negotiate with Iran this evening (Thursday) and stressed: "If Iran does not give up its nuclear ambitions, we will be its worst nightmare. In the meantime—we will continue to bomb them."

At an American cabinet meeting, Trump said: "Iran is begging for a deal—I don't know if we will succeed. Iran will not be able to recover from this. They have offers for a deal, and it's up to them."

Earlier today, American officials reported that the demands to end the war were conveyed to Iran. According to a report in Turkey, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a call with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan: "The request to conduct negotiations while continuing the strikes and sending forces and military equipment to the region in order to commit further crimes against the Iranian people is a sign of a contradiction in the Americans' behavior and words."

Other senior Trump administration officials addressed the possibility of negotiations with Iran. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth: "We welcome a deal, and we have the ultimate dealmaker to make it happen. But in the meantime, as I said yesterday, the War Department will continue to negotiate with bombs."

U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance added: "The Iranian military has been effectively destroyed. That gives us options. There have been many reports about negotiations. What we have right now is the ability to use every tool in our arsenal to ensure that Iran does not have a nuclear weapon—that is the most important thing for American security affairs."

Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates' Defense Ministry reported that its military intercepted 15 ballistic missiles and 11 drones today that came from Iran. Since the start of the war, the UAE claimed, 372 ballistic missiles, 15 cruise missiles, and 1,826 drones have been launched at it.

The website "Axios" reported that the Pentagon is formulating a plan for a "decisive blow" against Iran that would include massive bombings and the seizure of strategic islands in order to open the Strait of Hormuz. The commander of U.S. Central Command, Admiral Brad Cooper, said: "The death of the commander of the navy in Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Admiral Alireza Tangsiri, as a result of an Israeli airstrike, makes the region safer. We call on every Iranian serving in the Revolutionary Guards to immediately abandon his post and return home to avoid any further risk of unnecessary injury or death."

According to several reports in the United States, four main courses of action are taking shape among American officials: an invasion of or blockade on Kharg Island, which serves as Iran's main oil export hub; an invasion of Larak Island, a strategic outpost in the Strait of Hormuz; deep ground operations inside Iranian territory to seize enriched uranium; or, alternatively, large-scale airstrikes against the nuclear facilities.