The United States’ threats to target Iran’s densely fortified Pickaxe Mountain facility have ratcheted up the tensions with Tehran following warning from Washington to strike the facility “very soon”.
These quotes occurred as Trump was defending the continued Israeli military actions against Tehran. He also said the “conflict” is a “limited military engagement”, though he repeated that stopping Iran from developing a nuclear weapon is the “top priority” of the US conflict.
Meanwhile, Iranian officials said an Iranian oil tanker off the Kharg Island, which is near a strategically important Iranian island, had also been struck by US missiles. The immediate cause of the explosions was not immediately clear and Reuters independently reported that the blasts occurred in the area.
Iran’s nuclear facilities are at the heart of the new round in the escalating confrontation as Trump issued his new warning. Pickaxe Mountain is near the damaged Natanz uranium enrichment plant and is thought to house many deep-buried tunnels, a target for any additional U.S. military operation.
At the Oval Office, Trump emphasized that the United States had “prevented” Iran from getting a nuclear weapon in the months-long campaign, the “big objecive” it has accomplished so far.
“We’re in five months now. And you know what we did in five months? They’re not going to have a nuclear weapon; that’s what we did,” Trump said.
The US President also gave a strong cautionary note over what is likely to happen if Iran becomes a nuclear power.
“Iran will not have a nuclear weapon because if they did, you probably wouldn’t be standing here very long,” Trump added.
These advances have fueled worries that the war may move to a new potentially more dangerous level, especially if the next US attacks could focus on Iran’s secret nuclear sites.