Trump warns of ‘bad things’ if Iran doesn’t make a deal, as second U.S. carrier nears Mideast : NPR
This image provided Thursday, February 19, 2026 by the Iranian military and dated Tuesday, February 17, 2025 shows navy ships conducting operations during a joint exercise of Iranian and Russian forces in the Indian Ocean.
Masoud Nazari Mehrabi/AP/Iranian Army
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Masoud Nazari Mehrabi/AP/Iranian Army
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran held annual military exercises with Russia on Thursday as a second U.S. aircraft carrier moves closer to the Middle East, with the United States and Iran signaling they are ready for war if negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program fail.
President Donald Trump said Thursday he believes 10 to 15 days would be “enough time” for Iran to reach a deal. But negotiations have been deadlocked for years and Iran has refused to discuss broader demands from the United States and Israel to scale back its missile program and cut ties with armed groups. Indirect talks held in recent weeks have yielded little visible progress, and one or both sides could buy time for final war preparations.
Iran’s theocracy is more vulnerable than ever after 12 days of Israeli and US strikes on its nuclear sites and army last year, as well as mass protests in January that were violently suppressed.
In a letter to the U.N. Security Council on Thursday, Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran’s ambassador to the U.N., said that while Iran does not seek “tension or war and will not start war,” any U.S. aggression will receive a “decisive and proportionate” response.
“Under such circumstances, all bases, installations and assets of hostile forces in the region would constitute legitimate targets in the context of Iran’s defensive response,” Iravani said.
Earlier this week, Iran conducted a live-fire exercise in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow opening to the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil passes.
Tensions are also rising in Iran, as mourners hold ceremonies to honor slain protesters 40 days after they were killed by security forces. Some rallies were marked by anti-government chants despite threats from the authorities.
Trump threatens Iran again
The movements of additional U.S. warships and aircraft, including the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford near the mouth of the Mediterranean Sea, do not guarantee a U.S. strike against Iran — but they strengthen Trump’s ability to carry one out if he chooses to do so.
He has so far shied away from attacking Iran after setting red lines on killings of peaceful protesters and mass executions, while resuming war-disrupted nuclear negotiations in June.
Iran has agreed to develop a written proposal to address U.S. concerns raised during this week’s indirect nuclear negotiations in Geneva, according to a senior U.S. official who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The official said senior national security officials met Wednesday to discuss Iran and were briefed that “the full complement of forces” needed to carry out possible military action should be in place by mid-March. The official did not say when Iran was expected to provide its written response.
“It’s proven over the years that it’s not easy to make a meaningful deal with Iran, and we have to make a meaningful deal. Otherwise, bad things will happen,” Trump said Thursday.
As the U.S. military presence increases in the region, a senior regional government official said he stressed to Iranian officials in private conversations that Trump had proven his rhetoric should be taken at face value and that he was serious about his threat to carry out a strike if Iran did not offer adequate concessions.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic conversations, said he advised the Iranians to examine how Trump has handled other international issues and learn lessons about how he should move forward.
The official added that he had argued to the Trump administration that it could extract concessions from Iran in the short term if it focused on nuclear issues and left pressuring Tehran to reduce its ballistic missile program and support for a proxy group until later.
The official also said Trump ordering a limited strike aimed at pressuring Iran could backfire and lead Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to pull Iran out of the talks.
In this image provided by Sepahnews of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards on February 16, 2026, troops are seen standing at attention during the guards exercise in the Persian Gulf on Monday, February 16, 2026.
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Growing international concern
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk urged his country’s citizens to immediately leave Iran because “within a few, tens, or even a few dozen hours, the possibility of evacuation will be out of the question.” He did not give further details and the Polish embassy in Tehran does not seem to want to reduce its staff.
The German military said it had moved “an average double-digit number of non-mission-essential personnel” from a base in northern Iraq due to the current situation in the region and in line with the actions of its partners. He said some troops remained to help maintain the multinational camp in Erbil, where they train Iraqi forces.
“This week, another 50 US fighter jets – F-35, F-22 and F-16 – were ordered to the region, complementing the hundreds deployed to bases in the Gulf Arab states,” wrote the New York-based think tank Soufan Center. “These deployments reinforce Trump’s threat – reiterated almost daily – to launch a massive air and missile campaign against the regime if talks fail.”
Iran holds exercise with Russia
Iranian forces and Russian sailors have conducted annual exercises in the Gulf of Oman and the Indian Ocean aimed at “improving operational coordination as well as the exchange of military experiences”, Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported.
Footage released by Iran shows members of the Revolutionary Guard paramilitary naval special forces boarding a ship during the exercise. These forces have reportedly been used in the past to seize ships on major international waterways.
Iran also issued a rocket fire warning to pilots in the region, suggesting it planned to launch anti-ship missiles during the exercise.
Meanwhile, tracking data showed the Ford off the coast of Morocco in the Atlantic Ocean at midday on Wednesday, meaning the aircraft carrier could transit Gibraltar and potentially station in the eastern Mediterranean with its guided-missile destroyers.
It would likely take more than a week for the Ford to be off the coast of Iran.
Netanyahu warns Iran
Israel itself is preparing possible Iranian missile strikes in response to any American action.
“We are prepared for any scenario,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday, adding that if Iran attacks Israel, “they will experience a response they cannot even imagine.”
Netanyahu, who met with Trump last week, has long advocated for tougher U.S. action against Iran and says any deal would have to not only end its nuclear program but also limit its missile arsenal and force it to cut ties with militant groups like Hamas and Hezbollah.
Iran has said current negotiations should focus only on its nuclear program and that it has not enriched uranium since U.S. and Israeli strikes last summer. Trump said at the time that the strikes had “destroyed” Iran’s nuclear sites, but the exact damage is unknown because Tehran has banned the intervention of international inspectors.
Iran has always insisted on the peaceful nature of its nuclear program. The United States and others suspect that this project is ultimately aimed at developing weapons. It is widely believed that Israel possesses nuclear weapons, but this has neither been confirmed nor denied.
