Trump warns Iran against rebuilding nuclear program
Donald Trump on Monday intimated at further Israeli or US strikes on Iran if the country tried to rebuild its nuclear weapons facilities.
“Now I hear that Iran is trying to build up again,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Monday during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Florida. “And if they are, we’re going to have to knock them down. We’ll knock them down. We’ll knock the hell out of them. But hopefully that’s not happening.”
Iran and Israel exchanged fire for two weeks in June in what became known as the Twelve-Day War between June 13 and 24, with the US also striking three key Iranian sites with heavy munitions on June 22 in what was codenamed Operation Midnight Hammer.
What happened to Iran’s nuclear capabilities in June’s attacks?
Trump had previously said that Tehran’s nuclear capabilities had been “completely and fully obliterated” by a combination of Israeli and later US strikes in June on key nuclear enrichment sites.
But more sober US appraisals from intelligence agencies and the Pentagon estimated that the attacks would only set Iran back by a matter of months or up to two years, if it were to continue seeking nuclear weapons.
Israeli reports suggest efforts in Iran to rebuild, particularly its long-range missile capabilities that can also be used to strike Israel with conventional weapons.
Iran, meanwhile, claims that it is no longer enriching uranium for nuclear weapons at any site in the country.
Iranian adviser warns of ‘immediate harsh response’
Trump said it was possible but not confirmed that Iran was trying to rebuild nuclear capabilities at sites other than the Natanz, Fordow and Isfahan ones struck by the US in June.
“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 fuel on a B-2,” he said, referring to the bomber used in the earlier strike. “It’s a 37-hour trip both ways. I don’t want to waste a lot of fuel.”
He said leaders in Tehran “know the consequences” if the government sought to move towards nuclear weapons, adding these consequences would be “very powerful, maybe more powerful than last time.”
Ali Shamkhani, an adviser to Iran’s religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, responded in similarly bullish but conditional terms online, saying Iran’s missile capability and defense “are not containable or permission-based.”
“Any aggression will face an immediate harsh response beyond its planners’ imagination,” he said.
Netanyahu said last week that he was aware of the reports concerning Iran, but that Israel was not seeking another confrontation. He had said he planned to discuss the matter with Trump. (DW)
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