Trump Says Iran’s Last Nuclear Sites Could Be Hit ‘in 10 Minutes’
President Donald Trump said Saturday night the United States is in no rush to make a deal with Iran, boasting that its last nuclear sites could be hit “in 10 minutes.”
“Look, we’re not in that much of a hurry from the standpoint that we’ve knocked out their navy, we’ve knocked out their air force,” Trump told reporters at a Mar-a-Lago Halloween party, a transcript shows.
He said U.S. strikes had also wiped out much of Iran’s air defenses, manufacturing and nuclear program.
“We still have to take care of, uh, I would say one or two sites. But we can do that in, in 10 minutes. 10 minutes,” Trump said. “So we have that, we have that plan.”
Trump then named a target. “You probably can look at Pickaxe Mountain, you have to take care of that. We can do that all very quickly,” he said, Fox News reported.
Pickaxe Mountain is a deep tunnel complex just south of Iran’s Natanz enrichment site. Iran says it is for building centrifuges, but international inspectors have not been allowed in and its contents remain unknown, the Associated Press has reported.
‘Why Would You Ask Such a Stupid Question?’
Trump said talks with Iran through Qatari mediators are “going fine” but questioned Tehran’s word. “They’re not very reliable, I will tell you. They make a deal and then they back out,” he said.
When a New York Times reporter asked whether he expected to go back to war with Iran this week, Trump refused to say.
“Why would you ask such a stupid question? New York Times. Okay, let’s say I did. Would I tell you?” he said. “Let’s say I didn’t. Would I tell you? I can’t tell you anything.”
The remarks came hours after Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Trump “hasn’t made a decision” on resuming strikes and prefers a diplomatic solution. Iran’s supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, ordered his forces to prepare an “unrestricted” response to any attack.
Trump also spoke by phone Saturday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as Washington weighs another round of military action, The Wall Street Journal reported, according to Fox News.
U.S. media reported last week that Washington warned Gulf Arab countries to prepare for a short, intense offensive after the midterms, Middle East Eye noted. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., has been briefed on the plan.
“You’ve heard a preview that it would be a short-duration plan. I’ll just say this: their plan is insane,” Murphy said Wednesday. “It will lead to devastating escalation.”
The U.S. launched its war on Iran, Operation Epic Fury, on Feb. 28. The Washington Examiner noted Trump made his remarks as he weighs a fresh wave of strikes against the country after the election.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Saturday that shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has returned to near prewar levels, not counting Iranian oil shipments.
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