US President Donald Trump said on Monday he would support possible Israeli strikes on Iran if the Islamic Republic develops its ballistic missile or nuclear programs, warning Tehran against rebuilding military capabilities destroyed in a brief June war.
Speaking to reporters alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Florida, Trump said the United States will deal a heavy blow on Iran if it tries to recover from the US and Israeli strikes in June.
"I'm hearing that Iran is trying to recover—if that happens, we'll have to hit them hard," Trump added.
"If they will continue with the missiles, yes. The nuclear, fast. Okay? One will be yes, absolutely. The other was, we'll do it immediately," Trump said when asked if he would support Israel's strikes on Iran in case it further develops its ballistic missile and nuclear programs.
In a joint press conference with Netanyahu later in the day, Trump said he hopes Iran is "not trying to build up again, because if they are, we're going to have no choice, but very quickly to eradicate that buildup."
"I hope Iran is not trying to build up, as I've been reading, that they're building up weapons and other things. And if they are, they're not using the sites that we obliterated, but they're using possibly different sites. We know exactly where they're going, what they're doing, and I hope they're not doing it, because we don't want to waste the fuel on B-2, it's a 37-hour trip both ways. I don't want to waste a lot of fuel," he said.
The United States held five rounds of negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program earlier this year, for which Trump set a 60-day deadline.
When no agreement was reached by the 61st day on June 13, Israel launched a surprise military offensive followed by US strikes on June 22 targeting key nuclear facilities in Isfahan, Natanz and Fordow.
The attacks killed nuclear scientists along with hundreds of military personnel and civilians. Iranian counterattacks killed 32 Israeli civilians and an off-duty soldier.
Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons and says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has said dealing with Trump is beneath the dignity of the Islamic Republic, while Iranian officials have rejected US demands to end uranium enrichment and curb missile capabilities.
Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi spoke with Oman’s Foreign Minister on Monday over the phone. Oman has previously mediated negotiations between Tehran and Washington.
Trump blames Obama for nuclear Iran
Ahead of his meeting with Netanyahu, Trump shared a post on his Truth Social account of an old share on X that the Obama and Biden administrations gave money to Iran to fund its nuclear program.
The message originated on X from an account using the pen name Chris Bjornberg and was part of a promotion for his 2023 book “The Night Rider and the Warrior Queen.”
“One of Obama’s most treasonous policies was to fund Iran’s nuclear program,” the post shared by Trump said, alongside an image of a nuclear explosion over New York City and further criticism of Democratic administrations’ Iran policy.
“Biden and Obama gave Iran over $220 billion to research and build nukes. Iran nearly had 6 nuclear bombs and Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM’s) that would have destroyed Israel and 5 cities in the US," the post said.
The Obama administration negotiated the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which restricted Tehran’s nuclear activities in return for sanctions relief, before Trump withdrew the United States from the agreement in 2018.
Iran has since expanded its nuclear program beyond JCPOA limits, and the deal has effectively stalled.
Fresh central bank data showed gross domestic product shrank by 0.6% including oil and by 0.8% excluding oil in the first six months of the year 1404 (started on March 21), reflecting weak demand, falling investment and heightened uncertainty across the real economy, Tasnim reported.
The downturn came despite modest growth in the oil sector, which expanded by 1.1% but failed to offset deeper declines elsewhere.
Agriculture contracted by 2.9% and industry and mining by 3.4%, while construction suffered a sharp 12.9% slump, the central bank said, pointing to a deepening recession in a sector that is a key engine of employment and related industries.
At the same time, inflation pressures intensified. The statistics center said point-to-point inflation rose to 52.6% in the month to late December, up 3.2 percentage points from the previous month, while average annual inflation climbed to 42.2%.
Food inflation was far higher, with prices of food, beverages and tobacco up 72% year-on-year, compared with 43% for non-food goods and services. Monthly inflation reached 4.2%, led by sharp increases in staples such as dairy and bread.
The deteriorating data frame a contentious budget debate in parliament, where Pezeshkian has warned that the state lacks the resources to cushion households fully from price rises.
“They tell me to raise wages, but someone should tell me where the money is supposed to come from,” he told lawmakers while defending the draft budget, which proposes a 20% public-sector pay increase – well below inflation – alongside broader tax exemptions.
Pezeshkian has said the priority is to prevent a deficit-fueled surge in prices by restraining spending growth and tightening fiscal discipline.
“An orderly budget without a deficit reduces the fire of inflation and can contain price rises to some extent,” he said, adding that the government would expand tax exemptions and roll out targeted subsidies to protect low-income households.
Parliamentary leaders and lawmakers from across factions have pushed back, arguing the budget risks aggravating inflation and living costs.
Some lawmakers have been more blunt. “The 1405 budget has an inflationary nature,” said Hossein Samasami, a member of parliament’s economic committee. “Budget decisions are among the most important drivers of prices and inflation, and ignoring their impact directly weakens purchasing power.”
Volatility in the currency market has added to the pressure. The rial has fallen sharply in recent weeks, fueling gains in gold and hard assets as households seek protection from inflation.
Guards-linked Tasnim news agency said in an analysis on Sunday that the dollar had become “a symbol of lost confidence,” criticizing what it described as inaction by the government and central bank as expectations worsened.
Markets have continued to test policy credibility. On Sunday, the rial weakened to a new record low of about 1,420,000 per dollar.
The problem between the Islamic Republic and Western powers “is not the nuclear issue,” but opposition to Iran’s plan “to establish a national and international Islamic order,” Ali Khamenei said in a message issued Saturday to the annual meeting of Islamic student associations in Europe.
He framed the confrontation as resistance to an “unjust global order and the system of domination.”
“The heavy assault of the US army and its disgraceful appendage in the region was defeated by the initiative, courage and sacrifice of Iran’s young people,” Khamenei said in a reference to recent regional conflicts.
Costs of confrontation
The remarks came after a 12-day war that left Iran with significant losses among senior military commanders and caused damage to nuclear, military and security infrastructure. Critics say the confrontation with the West, shaped by Khamenei’s policies over more than three decades, has imposed heavy costs on the population, with sanctions crippling large parts of the economy, weakening the currency and driving up the cost of living.
Despite this, senior officials have continued to defend the strategy. On Friday, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi acknowledged that sanctions have contributed to economic disorder but portrayed them as a factor behind Iran’s industrial “independence” and the development of its defence and missile sectors.
Speaking earlier in Isfahan, Araghchi said Iranians must accept the reality of sanctions and “accept that it is possible to live with sanctions.” He added that while sanctions have costs, he also knew their “blessings,” comments that triggered a wave of public criticism from citizens who said officials were disconnected from daily economic hardship.
Nuclear dispute still central
Khamenei’s insistence that the nuclear issue is secondary contrasts with Tehran’s recent remarks that reports by the International Atomic Energy Agency helped pave the way for Israeli and US attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
On June 12, the IAEA’s board of governors adopted a resolution accusing Iran of breaching safeguards by accumulating highly enriched uranium and restricting inspectors’ access, and called on Tehran to resume full cooperation.
The supreme leader’s comments also come as Iran-backed groups across the region are widely viewed as major sources of instability in the Middle East, complicating Tehran’s efforts to cast its confrontation with the West as purely ideological.
Air quality in nine monitoring stations across Tehran Province was classified as red on Saturday, according to the National Air Quality Monitoring System. Pollution levels in the cities of Damavand, Varamin, Pakdasht, Gharchak, and Shahriar in Tehran province ranged between 150 and 170 on the Air Quality Index (AQI), placing them in the “unhealthy for all” category.
The average air quality across Tehran’s 22 municipal districts stood at 136, categorised as “unhealthy for sensitive groups.” Under AQI scale, readings above 150 are considered unhealthy for the general population, while levels above 200 are deemed very unhealthy.
Khuzestan sees most severe conditions
Air pollution reached more alarming levels in Khuzestan Province in the south, where officials reported some of the worst conditions nationwide. The air quality monitoring center said the AQI in the city of Hendijan rose to 212, placing it in the purple category and signalling “very unhealthy” air.
Several other cities, including Ahvaz, Khorramshahr, Mahshahr, Dezful, etc. recorded AQI readings above 150, leaving air quality unhealthy for all age groups. Authorities advised elderly people, children, pregnant women and those with heart or respiratory illnesses to avoid outdoor activity, urging others to limit time outside.
Isfahan and Mashhad affected
In Isfahan Province, conditions were also severe. The AQI in the city of Isfahan reached 186 on Saturday morning, while some stations recorded readings above 200.
Meanwhile, officials in Mashhad said air quality there had reached “unhealthy for sensitive groups,” with pollution recorded in 16 areas of the city.
Despite recurring winter pollution crises, Iranian authorities have so far relied largely on temporary measures such as short-term closures, with critics saying no effective or lasting solution has been implemented to address the underlying causes of chronic air pollution.
