tough

United States President Donald Trump has continued to threaten Iran with possible military attacks if Tehran does not accede to his demands on issues ranging from nuclear enrichment to ballistic missiles.

In comments to the Israeli outlet Channel 12, published on Tuesday, Trump hinted at aggressive actions if no deal comes together with Iran.

“Either we reach a deal, or we’ll have to do something very tough,” Trump told the news outlet.

The remarks come as Iran’s security chief Ali Larijani meets with the sultan of Oman, Haitham bin Tariq Al Said, to discuss the results of talks between US and Iranian officials last week.

In recent weeks, Trump has touted an increase in US military forces in the region, having sent a “massive armada” to nearby waters. That deployment includes the USS Abraham Lincoln, an aircraft carrier.

Channel 12 and the news outlet Axios reported on Tuesday that Trump is also thinking about sending a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East.

That military build-up has spurred fears of an impending US strike against Iran. Critics fear such an attack could destabilise the region.

Already, on Monday, the US has issued guidelines to US-flagged commercial ships, warning them to stay “as far as possible” from Iranian territorial waters.

‘With speed and violence’

Since January, Trump has heightened US pressure on Iran, warning that his country’s military is “locked and loaded and ready to go”.

Trump has also compared Iran’s situation to that of Venezuela, where a US military operation on January 3 resulted in the abduction and removal of deposed President Nicolas Maduro.

“Like with Venezuela, [the US military] is ready, willing, and able to rapidly fulfill its mission, with speed and violence, if necessary. Hopefully Iran will quickly ‘Come to the Table’ and negotiate a fair and equitable deal,” Trump wrote on social media on January 28.

Late last month, his administration issued three overarching demands. They include an end to Iran’s uranium enrichment, a requirement to sever ties with regional proxies, and limits on the country’s ballistic missile stockpiles, a goal long sought by Israel.

During his first term, Trump pulled the US out of a 2015 deal that placed strict limits on Iran’s nuclear activities, in exchange for sanctions relief.

Now, Trump has resumed his “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran since taking office for a second term in January 2025.

That campaign has included severe sanctions and pressure to dismantle Iran’s nuclear programme, which Tehran insists is for civilian energy purposes only.

Already, last June, Trump authorised a military strike on three Iranian nuclear facilities, as part of a 12-day war between Iran and Israel.

Focus on anti-government protests

Trump’s renewed threats in January have coincided with a recent wave of anti-government protests in Iran.

The government in Tehran reacted to those demonstrations with a violent crackdown that reportedly killed thousands of people, drawing widespread condemnation from rights groups.

Reports have found that state security forces opened fire on crowds of protesters as the country was under an internet blackout.

On January 2 — one day before his military operation in Venezuela — Trump threatened to intervene on behalf of the protesters and “come to their rescue“, although he ultimately declined to do so.

Some analysts have pointed out that the proposed strikes on Iran would do little to aid the protesters, but would align with longstanding US and Israeli goals of reducing Iran’s military capacity.

The Iranian government has argued that the protests included the violent targeting of security forces by armed groups, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of officers. It has also accused outside powers like the US and Israel of backing the anti-government demonstrations.

Details around the protests and their crackdown remain difficult to verify, but Iranian officials have conceded that the government’s response killed thousands of people.

People who fled attacks by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in Sudan are enduring tough conditions at a displacement camp in the north where funding cuts are making life harder for its new residents. Al Jazeera’s Hiba Morgan is there.

HELEN Flanagan has revealed she thought she was being drugged and feared her kids would be taken away from her following her split from ex-fiance Scott Sinclair.

The former Coronation Street actress opened up on the breakdown she experienced after parting ways with the footballer in 2022 after 13 years together.

She told The Mirror: “It was the worst time that I’ve ever struggled with my mental health.”

Helen, who is on medication for obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), believes she experienced an adverse reaction to her prescription drugs which fuelled the feelings.

“He really wasn’t playing fair,” she said of Scott’s behaviour at the time.

“So I had quite a lot of financial stuff going on as well and the stress of solicitors. I was also totally heartbroken after David Haye.

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“It just all became too much and I began to experience psychosis,” she said of the post-break-up breakdown.

“I thought I was being watched, filmed, hunted, possibly even drugged, I was seeing things that weren’t there.

“It was really frightening – I thought my kids were going to be taken away, the nursery got involved,” she added.

“I do think the medication was really bad for me, but I became quite addicted to it.”

Helen shares three kids with Scott – Matilda, ten, Delilah, seven, and Charlie, four.

The Celebs Go Dating star credited her parents and therapists as helping her to get through the dark time.

Her relationship with ex Scott continues to remain strained, with Helen recently taking several public swipes at the father of her children.

Just last week, The Sun reported how Helen was being forced out of her £1million family home by her ex.

A friend of Helen’s said: “Scott pays for the house and all the bills and he’s decided a six-bedroom place is way too big for Helen on her own with the kids.

“But Helen doesn’t want to move and is digging her heels in. She loves the place, the kids are settled at the local school and her mum and dad live around the corner.

In wake of the news, the lingerie model branded Scott “a d***head” in a new interview with the Daily Mail, confessing that the two have a “very bad relationship”.

“We only communicate through my father now. There is so much worse I could say,” she told the publication.

Over Christmas, Helen was also left furious after she spotted photos of Scott at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

She publicly hit out on her Instagram Stories: “You really are a piece of s***. How dare you not turn up to Charlie’s nativity.”

At the time, the former soap star was playing the Wicked Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at Liverpool‘s M&S Bank Arena.

Helen admitted she now takes jobs she usually wouldn’t do to pay the bills and that she feels “mum guilt” at leaving her kids to work.

“So, I can’t forgive Scott for stealing a lot of my time with my children. I resent him for that.”

Helen is expected to dish more on her break-up with Scott in her new book Head And Heart: Break-ups, Breakdowns and Being Rosie, which is released tomorrow.