Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran was ready for a “fair and equitable” deal, but not for coercion. File
| Photo Credit: AP
A day after U.S. President Donald Trump warned that time was running out for Iran to reach a deal on its nuclear programme, Tehran said on Thursday that its armed forces had their “fingers on the trigger”, and vowed to respond with “unprecedented” response, targeting “all those supporting the aggressor”.
“Our brave Armed Forces are prepared — with their fingers on the trigger — to immediately and powerfully respond to ANY aggression against our beloved land, air, and sea,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote in a social media post, in response to Mr. Trump’s warning that “a massive armada” was heading towards Iran.
“Hopefully Iran will quickly come to the table and negotiate a fair and equitable deal – No nuclear weapons,” Mr. Trump said on Wednesday, adding that if Iran failed to do so, the U.S. forces deployed to West Asia were “ready to rapidly fulfil” their mission, “with speed and violence”.
Mr. Araghchi said Iran was ready for a “fair and equitable” deal, but not for coercion. “Iran has always welcomed a mutually beneficial, fair and equitable NUCLEAR DEAL— on equal footing, and free from coercion, threats, and intimidation — which ensures Iran’s rights to PEACEFUL nuclear technology, and guarantees NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS,” he wrote. “Such weapons have no place in our security calculations and we have NEVER sought to acquire them.”
But he added that Iran would respond to force with force. “The valuable lessons learned from the 12-Day War have enabled us to respond even more strongly, rapidly, and profoundly,” said Mr. Araghchi, referring to the June 2025 Israeli-U.S. attack on Iran. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had declared a “historic victory” after the June war, and Mr. Trump had claimed that his strikes had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear facilities. But Mr. Trump has now shifted his focus back to Iran’s nuclear programme, asking Tehran to reach a deal without delay.
Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and an advisor of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, said a limited U.S. strike is an “illusion”. “Any military action by the U.S. — from any origin and at any level — will be considered the start of war, and its response will be immediate, all out, and unprecedented, targeting [the] heart of TelAviv and all those supporting the aggressor,” he wrote in a social media post in Arabic, Hebrew, Russian, Chinese and English.
Earlier in the day, CNN reported that Mr. Trump was considering “a major new strike” on Iran after preliminary talks between Washington and Tehran over the country’s nuclear programme and ballistic missile production failed to make progress. The options he is weighing include strikes on Iran’s leadership and nuclear, military and government institutions, according to the report.
Mr. Trump had earlier threatened to use force if Iran killed protesters. After Iranian authorities cracked down on the protests — in which thousands are feared killed — Mr. Trump appeared to back off, saying Tehran had said it would not hang protesters. But after moving more fighter jets, missile defence systems and USS Abraham Lincoln strike group to West Asia, Mr. Trump stepped up his threats.
Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf said Tehran was open for “genuine” dialogue and diplomacy, but Mr. Trump has so far proved that he seeks to impose his political views through the threat of war. “As long as there are no guarantees for the rights of the Iranian nation, [as long as] the economic interests and benefits of the Iranian nation are not secured, and [as long as] the dignity of the Iranian nation is not respected, naturally there can be no talk of negotiations because we do not consider dictation, imposition, or surrender as negotiation,” Mr. Ghalibaf, a veteran of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, said in an interview.
Published – January 29, 2026 07:52 pm IST
