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The threat of a US-Iranian war may be looming closer after Donald Trump<\/a> warned time was running out for Tehran and said a massive US armada was moving quickly towards the country \u201cwith great power, enthusiasm and purpose\u201d.<\/p>\n Writing on social media, the US president said<\/a> the fleet headed by the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln was larger than the one sent to Venezuela before the removal of Nicol\u00e1s Maduro earlier this month and was \u201cprepared to rapidly fulfil its missions with speed and violence if necessary\u201d.<\/p>\n Trump said: \u201cHopefully Iran<\/a> will quickly \u2018Come to the Table\u2019 and negotiate a fair and equitable deal \u2013 NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS \u2013 one that is good for all parties. Time is running out, it is truly of the essence!<\/p>\n \u201cAs I told Iran once before, MAKE A DEAL! They didn\u2019t, and there was \u2018Operation Midnight Hammer,\u2019 a major destruction of Iran. The next attack will be far worse! Don\u2019t make that happen again.\u201d<\/p>\n It is the starkest indication yet from Trump that he intends to mount some kind of military strike<\/a> imminently if Iran refuses to negotiate a deal on the future of its nuclear programme. European diplomats had been expecting a crisis to develop<\/a> over the weekend and detected signs of Israeli nervousness about the scale of possible Iranian reprisals.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s public justifications for mounting an attack have shifted from three weeks ago, when he vowed to Iranian protesters that US help was on its way. Later he said he had held off from attacks after Iran agreed not to execute any of the protesters. There is speculation that Trump actually held back because he did not have sufficient military assets in the area, Gulf States urged restraint and Israel counselled it needed more time to prepare for likely missile reprisals from Iran.<\/p>\n Ever since, the Gulf States along with Turkey have been speaking to both sides, trying to find common ground between Iran and the US, but Tehran has insisted it will not negotiate under duress, or with preconditions.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s special envoy Steve Witkoff, speaking in Davos, Switzerland at the World Economic Forum, said a deal with Iran ought to happen. He told CNBC: \u201cObviously, the deal has to do with missiles. It has to do with enrichment. It has to do with non-state actor proxies. It has to do with the material [Iran\u2019s stockpile of nuclear material].\u201d<\/p>\n In recent days it has become clear that Trump is interested in curbing not just the remains of Iran\u2019s already shattered nuclear programme but also its ability to fire long-range missiles, always seen as the centrepiece of Iranian military projection. In recent weeks Trump has also suggested the Iranian supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, must leave the world stage, a demand Iran will reject.<\/p>\n Some will see the sudden ramping up of the threat as a useful piece of distraction at a time when Trump is under domestic political pressure over the violence administered by homeland security officers in Minnesota.<\/p>\n The Iranian mission at the UN in New York said: \u201cThe last time the US blundered into the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, it wasted $7tn, and over 7,000 American lives were lost. Iran stands ready for dialogue based on mutual respects and interests but if pushed it will defend itself and respond like never before.\u201d<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said he was not prepared to negotiate under threats but he was willing to talk without preconditions, terms he had relayed via numerous intermediaries to Witkoff.<\/p>\n