UPDATE - Trump warns of 'very big force' if talks with Iran fail

ADDS REMARKS BY TRUMP, DETAILS

By Diyar Guldogan

WASHINGTON (AA)—President Donald Trump said Friday that the US is prepared to deploy a “very big force” if ongoing negotiations with Iran fail.

"Well, in case we don't make a deal, we'll need it ....If we have a deal, we could cut it short," Trump told reporters when asked why he decided to send a second aircraft carrier to the region.

"It'll be leaving. It'll be leaving very soon. We have one out there that just arrived ...We have it ready. A big, a very big force," he added.

His remarks came after local media reported that the US will send the USS Gerald R. Ford to the Middle East to back up the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group.

When asked about the negotiations with Iran, Trump said he thinks they will be "successful."

"And if they're not, it's going to be a bad day for Iran — very bad," he added.

The US and Iran held indirect talks in the capital Muscat on Feb. 6 with Omani mediation to discuss Tehran’s nuclear program.

The sit-down marked the end of a roughly eight-month suspension after the US launched strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities during an escalation of the Iran–Israel conflict in June 2025.

Amid the negotiations, the US has significantly increased its military footprint in the region as Trump warns Iran that it must make a deal.

Uranium enrichment remains a central point of dispute. The US demands Iran halt uranium enrichment and transfer highly enriched uranium out of the country—a non-starter for Tehran.

Washington has also sought to include Iran’s missile program and its support for armed groups in the region in the negotiations, but Tehran has repeatedly said it will not negotiate issues beyond its nuclear program.