Trump warns Iran against reconstituting nuclear programme
President Donald Trump warned Iran against reconstituting its nuclear program Monday as he welcomed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to his home in Florida for wide-ranging talks. The warning comes after Trump has insisted that Tehran’s nuclear capabilities were “completely and fully obliterated” by US. Strikes on key nuclear enrichment sites in June. But Israeli officials have been quoted in local media expressing concern about Iran rebuilding its supply of long-range missiles capable of striking Israel.
“Now I hear that Iran is trying to build up again,” Trump told reporters soon after Netanyahu arrived at his Mar-a-Lago estate. “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 has insisted that it is no longer enriching uranium at any site in the country, trying to signal to the West that it remains open to potential negotiations over its atomic program. But Netanyahu was expected to discuss with Trump the need to potentially take new military action against Tehran just months after launching a 12-day war on Iran.
Trump criticized Iran anew for not making a deal to completely disarm its nuclear program ahead of the US and Israeli strikes earlier this year. “They wish they made that deal,” Trump said. Netanyahu’s visit also comes at another critical moment in Gaza as Trump looks to create fresh momentum for the US — brokered Israel-Hamas ceasefire that is in danger of stalling before reaching the complicated second phase of the agreement.
Trump, with Netanyahu by his side, said he wants to get to the second phase “as quickly as we can.” “But there has to be a disarming of Hamas,” Trump added. Before his talks with Trump, Netanyahu met separately with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that Trump championed has mostly held, but progress has slowed recently. Both sides accuse each other of violations, and divisions have emerged among the US, Israel and Arab countries about the path forward. The truce’s first phase began in October, days after the two-year anniversary of the initial Hamas-led attack on Israel that killed about 1,200 people.
All but one of the 251 hostages taken then have been released, alive or dead. The Israeli leader has signaled he is in no rush to move forward with the next phase as long as the remains of Ran Gvili are still in Gaza. Gvili’s parents met with Netanyahu as well as Rubio, US. Envoy Steve Witkoff and the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, in Florida on Monday. The Gvilis are expected to meet with Trump later in the day, according to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a group that advocates for families of abductees of the October 7, 2023, attack.
“They’re waiting for their son to come home,” Trump said of the family of the young police officer known affectionately as “Rani,” The family, according to the group, is looking “to ensure there will be no transition to Phase 2 of the agreement until Hamas fulfills its Phase 1 commitments and returns Ran home.” Trump’s 20-point plan — which was approved by the UN Security Council — lays out an ambitious vision for ending Hamas’ rule of Gaza. President Donald Trump and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking before a luncheon at the Mar-a-Lago club on Monday.
Answer to attack would be harsh in apparent response, says Iran’s president
Tehran: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday said his country’s answer to an attack would be harsh, which appeared to be in response to a warning by US President Donald Trump over reconstruction of Iran’s nuclear programme. “Answer of Islamic Republic of Iran to any cruel aggression will be harsh and discouraging,” Pezeshkian said on the social media platform X.
Pezeshkian did not elaborate, but his statement came a day after Trump suggested the US could carry out military strikes if Iran attempts to reconstitute its nuclear programme. Trump made the comment during wide-ranging talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. “Now I hear that Iran is trying to build up again,” Trump said during a news conference with Netanyahu after their meeting.
“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.” The two leaders discussed the possibility of renewed military action against Tehran months after a 12-day air war in June that killed nearly 1,100 Iranians including senior military commanders and scientists. Iran’s retaliatory missile barrage killed 28 people in Israel.
Trump suggested Monday that he could order another US strike against Iran.”If it’s confirmed, they know the consequences, and the consequences will be very powerful, maybe more powerful than the last time,” Trump said. Pezeshkian said Saturday that tensions between the sides already had risen. “We are in a full-scale war with the US, Israel and Europe; they don’t want our country to remain stable,” he said.
Iran has insisted it is no longer enriching uranium at any site in the country, trying to signal to the West that it remains open to potential negotiations over its atomic programme. US intelligence agencies and the International Atomic Energy Agency assessed Iran last had an organised nuclear weapons programme in 2003.
