Trump Says Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei ‘Should Be Very Worried’

President Donald Trump said in a new interview that Iran’s top leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, should be concerned amid negotiations between Tehran and the United States over the country’s nuclear program.

“I want peace in the Middle East,” Trump told NBC News’ Tom Llamas in a video interview aired on Feb. 4. “If we didn’t take out that nuclear [program], we wouldn’t have peace in the Middle East.”

When asked by Llamas whether Khamenei should be worried now, Trump said “he should be very worried,” noting that “as you know, they’re negotiating with us.”

Last year, the U.S. military and Israel launched air strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities during a 12-day aerial war that also saw Iran fire missiles and drones at Israeli and U.S. assets in the region.

“Those beautiful B-2 bombers went in and they hit their target … and obliterated it,” Trump said, referring to Iran’s nuclear program and American heavy strategic stealth bombers that can evade anti-aircraft defenses. The president went on to say that Iran at the time of the strikes would have a produced a nuclear weapon within one month unless the United States intervened.

Trump then warned Iran that if the regime attempts to restart its nuclear program, he would send bombers “right back” to launch strikes.

“They tried to go back to the [nuclear] site; they weren’t able to get near it,” he said in response to a question from Llamas about whether Tehran had tried to restart the controversial program. “There was total obliteration.”

The administration also found out that Iran had sought to launch a new nuclear site after last year’s military campaign, prompting a new warning from Trump.

The president in the NBC interview also made reference to protests that roiled the country and a subsequent regime crackdown last month that human rights activists say left thousands of people dead. In the midst of the demonstrations, Trump said he would be providing support to the protesters while calling on the Iranian regime to come to the negotiating table.

Reports citing unnamed officials said the United States and Iran are scheduled to resume talks on Feb. 6 over the country’s nuclear program. U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will meet in Istanbul, Reuters news agency reported in the wake of the protests.

At the same time, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has signaled a readiness to enter talks with Washington.

“I have instructed my Minister of Foreign Affairs, provided that a suitable environment exists—one free from threats and unreasonable expectations—to pursue fair and equitable negotiations, guided by the principles of dignity, prudence, and expediency,” Pezeshkian wrote on social media over the past weekend.

It comes as a U.S. fighter jet on Feb. 3 shot down an Iranian drone as it got near a U.S. aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea, according to the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM).

“No American service members were harmed during the incident, and no U.S. equipment was damaged,” CENTCOM said in a statement, referring to the drone being shot down because it was making an unnecessary move toward the ship.