The US president has indicated he would support Israeli military action if Tehran rebuilds its nuclear program
President Donald Trump warned the US could carry out further military strikes against Iran if it attempts to rebuild its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, in remarks to journalists alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Monday.
In June, the US and Israel carried out coordinated airstrikes on Iranian nuclear sites at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan, claiming they were intended to prevent Iran from advancing its nuclear program. Tehran has vehemently denied seeking nuclear weapons and condemned the strikes as unprovoked violations of its sovereignty. Iranian officials have stated that damaged facilities will be rebuilt and uranium enrichment will continue.
“If it’s confirmed, they know the consequences, and the consequences will be very powerful, maybe more powerful than the last time,” Trump said on Monday. “We’ll knock them down. We’ll knock the hell out of them. But hopefully that’s not happening.”
The US president indicated he would “absolutely” support Israeli military action against Iran’s missile program, saying the US would act “immediately” against any nuclear advances.
.@POTUS on Iran: “I hope they’re not trying to build up again, because if they are, we’re going to have no choice but very quickly to eradicate that buildup. So, I hope Iran is not trying to build up, as I’ve been reading.” pic.twitter.com/vcrqEQqA3J
“We know exactly where they’re going, what they’re doing, and I hope they’re not doing it, because we don’t want to waste the fuel on a B-2 – it’s a 37-hour trip both ways,” he added.
Trump noted it would be “much smarter” for Tehran to “make a deal” with Washington, claiming that Iran missed an opportunity “the last time before we went through a big attack on them.”
Omani-mediated US-Iran negotiations were suspended earlier this year after Washington joined Israel’s 12-day bombing campaign. In October, the EU and UK reimposed sanctions on Iran which had been lifted as part of the 2015 nuclear deal, which the US withdrew from during Trump’s first term in office. Tehran has since said it is no longer bound by the 2015 agreement.
Iran has insisted it remains open to reaching a deal with the US, but only if Washington stops setting what Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi previously described as “impossible and unacceptable preconditions.”
