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The Trump administration has warned Iran that “there will be consequences” if Tehran continues its malign activities, amid growing concern over a possible new round of hostilities between the United States and Iran after the midterm elections.
With days before the 2026 elections and as war rages in the Middle East, foreign ministers from the world’s largest economies gathered in Atlanta, Georgia, ahead of the G20 leaders’ meeting in December.
“The Iranian regime has had a choice…either to continue on the path of normalcy, of prosperity for its people, of the path of diplomacy. Or it can continue its malign activities, but there will be consequences. And we have seen the president take concrete steps,” State Department principal deputy spokesperson Tommy Pigott said Friday on Fox News Digital.
Pigott was responding to reports that U.S. officials have warned regional partners to prepare for the possibility of increased U.S. military action against Iran after Tuesday’s election, as well as possible Iranian retaliation.
State Department deputy spokesman Tommy Pigott told reporters that nuclear negotiations between the United States and Iran have been “constructive” and that President Trump wants to see diplomacy. (State Department)
IRANIAN NEGOTIATORS ARE EXCITED WITH US AS TALKS STOP, TRUMP PRESENTS ‘POSSIBLE’ SCHEDULE FOR FURTHER STRIKES
President Donald Trump has not made a final decision on resuming strikes, but U.S. diplomats and defense officials have privately urged several Middle Eastern countries and regional allies to prepare for the possibility of further military action and Iranian retaliation, according to an Associated Press report citing two diplomats briefed on the warnings.
The warnings come amid heightened concerns about Iranian threats against Americans abroad.
Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton wrote in an unclassified memo to Secretary of State Marco Rubio that the United States had received intelligence that Iran had “significantly increased its efforts to target U.S. personnel” and that Iranian murder plots had reached “advanced stages” in the Middle East and elsewhere, according to Scripps News.
Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul (center, CDU) attends the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting chaired by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (center). (Michael Kappelle/photo alliance via Getty Images)
When asked whether these threats were discussed with his G20 counterparts and whether the United States shared intelligence with its allies to disrupt possible plots, Pigott declined to discuss intelligence matters.
“We will work with our partners to ensure that any transnational threat has an appropriate transnational response to protect our citizens,” Pigott insisted.
The prospect of renewed fighting with Iran loomed over the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting, where Rubio placed energy security, secure supply chains and freedom of navigation among U.S. priorities.
Rubio opened the two-day meeting Friday by warning that the world’s largest economies face “interconnected economic and geopolitical crises” that threaten energy and food supplies, trade, global supply chains and freedom of navigation.
Pigott said the administration’s position remains: “There cannot be a situation where a country decides that it can control an international waterway and impose tolls on that waterway.”
Trump threatens ‘unprecedented’ economic consequences for any nation aiding Iran
Ships near the Strait of Hormuz, seen from Musandam, Oman, August 31, 2026. (Reuters/Stringer/File photo)
During the war, Iran began asserting greater authority over the Strait of Hormuz and insisting on the right to collect fees from ships for services such as navigation and environmental protection.
Asked what the United States wants G20 countries to do to keep the strait open, Pigott pointed to a broader principle that international waterways must remain free of coercion.
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“Fundamentally the principle here is very important: ensuring that we have secure international waterways in the sense that we don’t have tolls or coercion, ensuring that we have secure supply chains,” Pigott said. “It’s so important.”
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