On Thursday, the US president said he hoped to avoid military action against Iran by having further talks on a possible nuclear deal.

Axar.az informs, citing BBC, "I built [up] the military in my first term, and now we have a group headed out to a place called Iran, and hopefully we won't have to use it," Trump told reporters at the premiere of a documentary about his wife Melania.

Asked if he would have talks with Iran, Trump added: "I have had and I am planning on it. Yes, we have a lot of very big, very powerful ships sailing to Iran right now, and it would be great if we didn't have to use them."

The Iranian foreign minister said the country's armed forces were ready "with their fingers on the trigger" to "immediately and powerfully respond" to any aggression.