Trump Warns US May Have to Destroy Rest of Iran as Decision Nears

Photo: Al Jazeera

Donald Trump has warned that the United States may have to "destroy the rest" of Iran, saying a decision on fresh strikes will come soon. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday after meeting his national security team, he said, "I would rather not destroy the rest of the country if possible, but maybe I'll have to. You'll know soon enough."

It was his first meeting with his top advisers on Iran since the midterm elections, and his words were the bluntest yet about what comes next. "We're building more weapons right now in our military than we've ever built before," he said. "If we have to do the rest of the Iran thing, we're very much locked and loaded."

Trump said the United States has now been at war with Iran for more than eight months and controls "everything that we've wanted to control" in the country. He said Iran cannot do anything about its nuclear programme "without approval" from Washington, and claimed it would take Tehran 25 years to rebuild after the war. He also acknowledged that 18 American service members have died in the conflict.

The warning lands at a tense moment. Five tankers have now been hit in the Strait of Hormuz, and Saudi forces intercepted a Houthi missile fired towards Medina this week. Iran has sent a fresh nuclear proposal to Washington through Qatari mediators, which the Americans are now studying, while Tehran waits for seven demands of its own to be met. Behind the scenes, three paths are on the table: fresh strikes, more economic pressure, or a deal with big concessions from Iran.

Tehran is not sitting quiet either. Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned that any country that helps the United States carry out new attacks would be treated as a "legitimate target". Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi rang his counterparts in Saudi Arabia, Oman and Qatar as fears of a new American attack grow across the Gulf.

Trump's own party is split over the war. His vice president has said the war cost Republicans control of Congress in the midterms, and Trump himself has said he would launch the war again despite the losses. On Monday he ruled out attacking Iran right after the elections, only to warn on Thursday that a decision is coming soon. The mixed signals have left the region guessing.

For Pakistan, the stakes are close to home. Pakistan shares a long border with Iran, and a wider war would hit fuel prices, trade and shipping through the Gulf. Petrol in Pakistan only just fell to Rs352.59 a litre, and any new shock in the Gulf would put that relief at risk within days.

Sources

• Al Jazeera: Iran war live, Trump warns US may have to destroy rest of Iran
• The Times of Israel: Trump says he would rather not destroy the rest of Iran
• Gulf News: Trump threatens more destruction in Iran
• Times Now: Locked and loaded for Iran strikes, Trump warns

Next, all eyes are on the White House, where Trump says the decision on Iran will be made soon.

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