Trump Threatens to Strike Iran
Speaking to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida while standing beside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump delivered the ultimatum following June's joint American-Israeli aerial assault on Iranian atomic facilities.
The coordinated June offensive targeted Iranian nuclear installations at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan, with Washington and Tel Aviv asserting the bombardment aimed to halt Tehran's atomic ambitions. Iran has categorically rejected accusations of pursuing nuclear armament and denounced the attacks as illegal acts of aggression against its territorial integrity. Officials in Tehran have pledged to reconstruct the damaged infrastructure and resume uranium enrichment operations.
"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 American president declared he would "absolutely" back Israeli strikes targeting Iran's ballistic missile capabilities, vowing Washington would respond "immediately" to any nuclear development activity.
"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 suggested Tehran would be better served by pursuing "much smarter" diplomatic engagement with Washington, asserting Iran squandered a previous chance "the last time, before we went through a big attack on them."
Diplomatic talks facilitated by Oman collapsed earlier this year after Washington participated in Israel's 12-day aerial bombardment campaign. Last October, the EU and UK reinstated economic penalties against Iran that had been removed under the 2015 nuclear accord—an agreement the US abandoned during Trump's initial presidency. Tehran subsequently declared itself no longer obligated to honor the 2015 framework.
Iranian leadership has maintained willingness to negotiate with Washington, contingent upon American abandonment of what Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi previously characterized as "impossible and unacceptable preconditions."
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