Trump gives Iran 10-15 days for nuclear talks or face consequences

President Trump He said in June that he would decide “within the next two weeks” whether or not to strike Iran. The decision was made two days later.

On Thursday, he gave Tehran another hour, saying the Islamic Republic had 10 to 15 days Sit to the negotiating table or face the consequences.

The compressed timetable is now at the heart of a new round of high-stakes nuclear diplomacy. But under Trump, deadlines can be both a warning and a weapon.

“The Iranian regime is operating under a grand delusion that it can turn President Trump into President Obama, and President Trump has made clear that is not happening,” Jason Brodsky, policy director at United Against Nuclear Iran, told Fox News Digital.

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Map of US Navy ships in the Middle East. (Fox News)

Brodsky said there were few expectations within the administration that diplomacy would achieve a breakthrough. “I think there is deep doubt within the Trump administration that these negotiations will lead to any acceptable outcome.”

Instead, he added, the talks may serve a dual purpose. He added: “They are using the diplomatic process to refine the Iranian leadership’s options and buy time to ensure that we have the appropriate military assets in the region.”

A Middle Eastern source familiar with the negotiations told Fox News Digital that Tehran is aware of how close the threat of war is and is unlikely to deliberately provoke Trump at this stage.

However, the source said that Iran could not accept restrictions on its short-range missile program, describing the issue as a firm red line set by the Supreme Leader. Ali Khamenei. Iranian negotiators are not allowed to cross that border, and giving up the missiles internally would be seen as tantamount to losing the war.

The source indicated that there may be more flexibility regarding uranium enrichment standards if… Reducing penalties It is part of the equation.

According to Brodsky, Iran’s basic positions have not changed. He added: “They are trying to engage in a lot of distractions, shiny things, to distract from the fact that they are not willing to make the concessions that President Trump is asking of them.” “Iranian positions are not changing and have not changed radically. They refuse to accept President Trump’s position on zero enrichment. They refuse to dismantle their nuclear infrastructure. They refuse to impose restrictions on Iran’s missile program, and they refuse to end support for terrorist groups.”

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USS Gerald R. Ford pictured in the Mediterranean. (U.S. Naval Forces Central Command/U.S. 6th Fleet/Handout via Reuters)

Behnam Talablou, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, warned that Tehran may be preparing a very different kind of proposal.

Taliblu said: “The first type of deals that we should be concerned about… They may propose an agreement that relies more on transferring the current reality to paper… This type of agreement is more like understandings.”

“You take the current reality, put it on paper, and then make the United States pay for something it has already achieved.”

Taliblu outlined what he saw Tehran’s strategic goals. “The Iranians basically want three things. The first is they want to deter and prevent a strike.”

“The second is that they are actually using negotiations… to take the wind out of the wings of Iranian dissidents. The third is… that they actually want some kind of foreign financial stability and sanctions relief.”

“What the Iranians want is to buy time… An agreement like this does not require the Iranians to provide anything.”

Retired general says military action against Iran is ‘best option’ as Trump faces ‘historic opportunity’

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appeared in the photo sitting next to a senior military official in Iran. (Getty Images)

Meanwhile, Taliblu said the administration’s intentions remain deliberately vague. “It’s hard to read what the administration is hiding here. It’s clear they don’t want a nuclear Iran, but it’s also clear they don’t want a long war in the Middle East.”

“the Military architecture Their move to the area suggests they are ready to engage in one anyway. The question that the administration has not resolved politically is: What is the final political status of the strikes? “This is the cultivation of ambiguity at which the president excels.”

“The president has been clear that he wants to give diplomacy a chance,” Jacob Olidort, senior research officer and director of American security at the American Policy First Institute, told Fox News Digital. “However, if diplomatic efforts, in his estimation, prove unsuccessful, he will almost certainly turn to military options. What is truly unpredictable is the specific goal and scope of military action the president might take.”

“Specifically, will military action act as a new layer of diplomatic pressure toward creating a new opportunity to get Iran to agree to our demands — military force as coercive diplomacy — or simply achieve intended goals that diplomacy has been unable to achieve? Regardless, the President has a record of taking bold action to protect the American people from Iran’s threats.”

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Iranians gather as a street is blocked during a protest in Tehran, Iran on January 9, 2026. (Mahsa/Middle East Pictures/AFP via Getty Images)

Iranian sources told Fox News Digital that public sentiment inside Iran remains deeply divided. Many find a foreign military invasion unacceptable, while anger over the killing of young protesters continues to fuel internal tensions and uncertainty.

With 10 to 15 days to go, Trump’s deadline may serve less as a calendar marker and more as leverage.