Iran has warned it will target American military bases in the region if diplomatic efforts to revive a nuclear agreement fail, intensifying already high tensions between Tehran and Washington.
Speaking on Wednesday, Iran’s Defence Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh said all US bases in the region were within Iran’s reach and would be targeted “without hesitation” if war breaks out. “We have access to them in their host countries,” he declared, adding: “God willing, things won’t reach that point, and the talks will succeed. But if conflict arises, the US will suffer greater losses.”
The remarks come as talks between the two countries continue to stall. Since April, Iran and the United States have held five rounds of negotiations in an attempt to broker a new nuclear deal to replace the 2015 accord, which former President Donald Trump abandoned during his first term in 2018.
Upon returning to office in January, Trump revived his signature “maximum pressure” campaign on Tehran. While he has backed renewed nuclear diplomacy, he has also warned that military action remains an option should talks collapse.
In a sign of increasing concern, a US official confirmed that staffing at the American embassy in Iraq was being scaled down due to security risks. Meanwhile, the British Navy’s UK Maritime Trade Operations urged ships transiting the Gulf to proceed with caution.
Trump, who had previously expressed optimism about reaching a new deal, sounded a more pessimistic note this week. Speaking to the New York Post podcast “Pod Force One”, he admitted: “I’m getting more and more – less confident about it. They seem to be delaying, and I think that’s a shame.”
“Something happened to them… maybe they don’t want to make a deal, what can I say? And maybe they do. There is nothing final,” he added. Nevertheless, he insisted the United States would not allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon, saying, “It would be nicer to do it without warfare, without people dying.”
A central point of dispute in the ongoing negotiations remains Iran’s uranium enrichment, which currently stands at 60% purity—well above the 3.67% limit agreed in the 2015 deal, though still short of weapons-grade levels. Western nations, including the US and Israel, suspect Iran is seeking to build nuclear weapons. Tehran has consistently denied this, maintaining that its nuclear programme is entirely peaceful.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei recently defended uranium enrichment as “key” to the country’s nuclear ambitions, insisting the US “cannot have a say” in the matter.
Tehran has also expressed dissatisfaction with the latest draft proposal from Washington, complaining that it fails to provide meaningful sanctions relief. Iran said it would soon present a counter-proposal addressing its economic concerns, as the country continues to struggle under extensive international sanctions.
The UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), began a Board of Governors meeting in Vienna this week to review Iran’s atomic activities. The IAEA recently issued a report criticising Iran for “less than satisfactory” cooperation and for failing to clarify traces of nuclear material found at undeclared sites.
Iran denounced the findings, accusing the IAEA of relying on “forged documents” supplied by Israel.
The rising tensions evoke memories of January 2020, when Iran fired missiles at US military bases in Iraq in retaliation for the American assassination of General Qassem Soleimani. Dozens of US troops suffered traumatic brain injuries in that attack.
With negotiations faltering and military threats exchanged, the path to de-escalation appears increasingly uncertain.
