Trump threatens Iran with bombs unless nuclear deal reached

What they are saying: "If they don't make a deal there will be bombing. It will be bombing the likes of which they have never seen before," Trump told NBC News' Kristen Welker during a phone interview.

Driving the news: On Wednesday, Iran delivered to Oman its formal written response to Trump's letter proposing new nuclear talks and threatening consequences if a deal is not swiftly reached.

• Trump gave Iran a two-month deadline to sign a new nuclear deal or face potential military action in his letter, sent three weeks ago, Axios previously reported.
• The Iranian letter of response was expected to be delivered to Trump over the weekend but it is not clear if it happened.

The other side: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Sunday that Iran won't engage in direct talks with the U.S. at the moment, but stressed the Iranian letter of response doesn't rule out indirect negotiation through the Omani mediators.

• The Iranian president made clear it is the U.S. responsibility to rebuild trust with Iran, after Trump unilaterally withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2018.

State of play: In recent days, the U.S. military sent several B-2 stealth bombers to the Diego Garcia military base in the Indian Ocean in a deployment a U.S. official said was "not disconnected" from Trump's two-month deadline.

• The B-2 bombers can carry huge bunker buster bombs that would be a key element in any possible military action against Iran's underground nuclear facilities.