Trump escalates pressure on Tehran
He claimed that the US had already ‘knocked out’ Iran’s nuclear capabilities, but said some targets remained to be dealt with. Amid reports of renewed military consultations between Washington and Israel over possible strikes against Iran, US president Donald Trump said on Saturday that American forces could strike one or two remaining Iranian nuclear sites within ‘ten minutes’.
The call followed a White House meeting earlier in the week at which Trump consulted senior military officials on options for restarting major combat operations, the newspaper reported.
Speaking to reporters at a Halloween party at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, Trump said the US had yet to deal with one or two targets, specifically referring to the underground facility known as Pickaxe Mountain. We still have to take care of, I would say, one or two sites, but we can do that in ten minutes,” Trump said. They want to make a deal; we’ll find out about that,” he said. Asked about the progress of negotiations, Trump said, “They’re going fine, but they’re not very reliable. Which cited people familiar with the conversation, the two leaders discussed the situation amid preparations for possible renewed strikes, according to The Wall Street Journal. US secretary of state Marco Rubio earlier said diplomatic engagement with Iran had continued, even as the administration considered its military options. Earlier reporting noted: President Donald Trump has said that the United States still has to “take care of” one or two targets in Iran as country’s supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei warned the US and Israel of fresh attacks. We can do that all very quickly,” he said, referring to a site linked to Iran’s nuclear program.
“We’ve knocked out their nuclear. “Iran will never have a nuclear weapon. They make a deal and then they back out. Speaking on the sidelines of the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, Rubio declined to set a deadline for negotiations or assess their progress.
Earlier reporting noted: “You probably could look at Pickaxe Mountain, and you have to take care of that. The remarks came hours after Trump reportedly spoke with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu by telephone on Saturday morning, as Washington assessed options for potentially resuming military operations against Iran.