Trump says US may need to strike Iran again, Tehran ‘begging for a deal’

3 min readUpdated: May 19, 2026 09:12 PM IST

Trump Iran strike warning: US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said America may need to attack Iran again and that he was only an hour away from deciding on a strike before the American military postponed the Tuesday’s attack after the Gulf nations urged Washington that “serious negotiations” are underway to end the war.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said, “I was an ⁠hour away from making the decision ‌to go today,” adding that Iran’s leaders are “begging” to strike a ceasefire deal but a renewed US strike could happen if a truce is not reached in the coming days.


“Well, I mean, I’m saying two ‌or ​three ​days, ​maybe Friday, Saturday, Sunday, something, maybe early ​next week, a limited period ⁠of time, because we can’t let them ‌have ⁠a new nuclear weapon,” the US president added, Reuters reported.

Meanwhile, Iranian military warned Trump administration that it would open “new fronts” of war against the United States if it resumes attacks on Tehran.

Iran army spokesperson Mohammad Akraminia said, “If the enemy is foolish enough to fall into the Zionist trap again and launches new aggression against our beloved Iran, we will open new fronts against it, with new equipment and new methods,” according to Tehran’s ISNA news agency.

Trump has been threatening that the ceasefire reached between US and Iran on April 8 could end if Tehran doesn’t agree to a deal on American terms, while Washington has been shifting its parameters for striking the agreement.

The US president, over the weekend, had issued another warning in a Truth Social post saying, “For Iran, the Clock is Ticking, and they better get moving, FAST, or there won’t be anything left of them.”

Calling off the attack on Tuesday, Trump said he made the move after a request from US allies in the Middle East, including the leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

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