Fingers on the trigger, says Iran after Trump’s warning

Iran vows a powerful response to U.S. threats, emphasising readiness to protect its sovereignty amid nuclear deal tensions.

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.