U.S. President Donald Trump escalated tensions with Iran on Sunday, threatening devastating military strikes and secondary tariffs if Tehran refuses to negotiate a new nuclear deal.

In a phone interview with NBC News, Trump warned, “If they don’t make a deal, there will be bombing—the likes of which they’ve never seen before,” signaling a hardline stance just days after Iran rejected direct talks with Washington.

The warning follows Trump’s March 12 letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, delivered via Oman, urging negotiations to curb Tehran’s nuclear program—which now enriches uranium to 60% purity, perilously close to weapons-grade levels. Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian rebuffed the overture Sunday, citing the U.S.’s “maximum pressure” campaign and past breaches, like Trump’s 2018 exit from the 2015 nuclear accord.

While ruling out direct talks, Pezeshkian left room for indirect discussions—a faint hope stalled since the deal’s collapse.

Trump’s rhetoric sharpened as he tied military action to a tight timeline, hinting at strikes within months if Iran doesn’t bend. “I’d rather talk it out, but if not, bad things happen,” he said, echoing his first-term playbook of sanctions and the 2020 Soleimani strike.

The U.S. State Department reinforced the message: Trump won’t let Iran go nuclear, and without a deal, “other options” loom large. With B-2 bombers already deployed to Diego Garcia, the threat’s not idle—Iran’s defiance now dances on a razor’s edge.