Trump threatens bombing over Iran's nuclear standoff

Washington: US President Donald Trump on Sunday threatened Iran with bombings and secondary tariffs if Tehran did not come to an agreement with Washington over its nuclear programme.

In a telephone interview with NBC News, Trump said US and Iranian officials were talking but did not elaborate.

"If they don't make a deal, there will be bombing," Trump said. "But there's a chance that if they don't make a deal, that I will do secondary tariffs on them like I did four years ago."

In his first 2017-21 term, Trump withdrew the US from a 2015 deal between Iran and world powers that placed strict limits on Tehran's disputed nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief.

Trump also reimposed sweeping US sanctions. Since then the Islamic Republic has far surpassed the agreed limits in its escalating programme of uranium enrichment.

Tehran has so far rebuffed Trump's warning to make a deal or face military consequences.

Iran sent a response through Oman to Trump's letter in which he urged Tehran to reach a new nuclear deal, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi was cited as saying by the official IRNA news agency on Thursday.

Western powers accuse Iran of having an clandestine agenda to develop nuclear weapons capability by enriching uranium to a high level of fissile purity, above what they say is justifiable for a civilian atomic energy programme.

Tehran says its nuclear programme is wholly for civilian energy purposes.