Donald Trump has once again warned that the US will return to “strong military action” against Iran if diplomatic efforts do not bring a rapid resolution to the crisis in the Middle East.

“We are in very deep talks with Iran. If they don’t work out, we will go back to very strong military action,” the US president told Axios on Monday. Asked for how long he would allow the talks to proceed, he answered: “Not much time. Either it goes fast or not at all.”

He reiterated the line to reporters later the same day on Air Force One. “They want to meet, and we’re meeting. Without what we did, they wouldn’t even be talking to us … They would not have requested the meeting if we were doing poorly. The only reason they want to meet is because we’ve been hitting them very hard.”

He doubled down at a rally in Michigan soon after. “You ⁠can’t bribe them. You’ve ‌got ‌to beat them, ‌and we’ll beat the hell out of them. But we’ll ‌see how it turns out,” he said . “Right now, ⁠there are very friendly negotiations going on.”