Trump says he may bomb Iran again, drops plans to lift sanctions

U.S. President Donald Trump sharply criticized Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Friday, dropped plans to lift sanctions on Iran, and said he would consider bombing Iran again if Tehran is enriching uranium to worrisome levels.

Trump reacted sternly to Khamenei's first remarks after a 12-day conflict with Israel that ended when the United States launched bombing raids last weekend against Iranian nuclear sites.

Khamenei said Iran had "slapped America in the face" by launching an attack against a major U.S. base in Qatar following the U.S. bombing raids. He also said Iran would never surrender.

Trump said he had spared Khamenei's life. U.S. officials told Reuters on June 15 that Trump had vetoed an Israeli plan to kill the Supreme Leader.

"His Country was decimated, his three evil Nuclear Sites were OBLITERATED, and I knew EXACTLY where he was sheltered, and would not let Israel, or the U.S. Armed Forces, by far the Greatest and Most Powerful in the World, terminate his life," Trump said in a social media post.

Iran said a potential nuclear deal was conditional on the U.S. ending its "disrespectful tone" towards the Supreme Leader.

"If President Trump is genuine about wanting a deal, he should put aside the disrespectful and unacceptable tone towards Iran's Supreme Leader, Grand Ayatollah Khamenei, and stop hurting his millions of heartfelt followers," Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said in a post on X in the early hours of Saturday.

Trump also said that in recent days he had been working on the possible removal of sanctions on Iran to give it a chance for a speedy recovery. He said he had now abandoned that effort.

Trump said at a White House news conference that he did not rule out attacking Iran again when asked about the possibility of new bombing of Iranian nuclear sites if deemed necessary at some point.

Trump said he would like inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency – the UN nuclear watchdog – or another respected source to be able to inspect Iran's nuclear sites after they were bombed last weekend.

Trump has rejected any suggestion that the damage to the sites was not as profound as he has said.

The IAEA chief, Rafael Grossi, said on Wednesday that ensuring the resumption of IAEA inspections was his top priority, as none had taken place since Israel began bombing on June 13.

However, Iran's parliament approved moves on Wednesday to suspend such inspections. Araqchi indicated on Friday that Tehran may reject any request by the head of the agency for visits to Iranian nuclear sites.

Trump said Iran still wants to meet about the way forward. The White House said on Thursday that no meeting between the U.S. and an Iranian delegation has been scheduled thus far.

(Cover: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House, Washington, D.C., on June 27, 2025. /VCG)