Trump says US could strike remaining Iran nuclear sites 'in ten minutes' after Netanyahu call, as talks continue
Donald Trump said the United States could hit one or two remaining Iranian nuclear sites, including Pickaxe Mountain, within ten minutes, hours after a reported phone call with Benjamin Netanyahu about resuming strikes on Iran.
United States President Donald Trump has said American forces could strike the remaining Iranian nuclear sites 'in ten minutes', in remarks that underline how close the United States and Israel are to resuming military action against Iran even as diplomats continue to search for a settlement. The comments came on Saturday night, hours after Trump spoke by telephone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the next steps in the eight-month war.
Speaking to reporters at a Halloween event at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, Trump said the bulk of Iran's nuclear programme had already been destroyed but that a small number of targets remained. 'We've knocked out their nuclear. We still have to take care of, I would say, one or two sites, but we can do that in ten minutes,' he said. 'You probably could look at Pickaxe Mountain, and you have to take care of that. We can do that all very quickly.'
Pickaxe Mountain has been flagged by Western intelligence agencies as a site likely used to store nuclear material, and it has not been struck by the United States so far in the war, according to reporting of the president's remarks. Trump did not identify any other specific site, and he did not say whether a decision to launch fresh strikes had been taken.
The phone call with Netanyahu took place on Saturday morning, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal citing people familiar with the conversation. The Journal said the two leaders spoke as the United States drew up plans to resume strikes on Iran. Neither the White House nor the Israeli prime minister's office has publicly confirmed the content of the call, and the reports do not quote either leader on what was discussed.
The call followed a week of military consultations in Washington. Earlier in the week, Trump met senior commanders, including the head of United States Central Command, Admiral Brad Cooper, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, to discuss options for resuming major combat operations. Cooper briefed the president at the White House on Thursday on possible operations against Iran.
At the same time, Trump struck a mixed note on diplomacy, saying negotiations with Tehran were 'going fine' while calling the Iranian government 'not very reliable'. He said Iran wanted to reach an agreement, adding: 'They wanna make a deal, and we will see if they make a deal.' He also repeated his position that Iran will never be allowed to acquire a nuclear weapon, and claimed the United States had already destroyed Iran's navy, air force and air defences along with most of its military equipment.
The timing of any renewed strikes is politically sensitive. The United States has not struck Iran since 1 September, and Trump has pledged to refrain from further attacks until after the midterm elections on Tuesday, 3 November, which will decide control of Congress for the final two years of his presidency. Reports this week said Washington had warned Gulf allies to prepare for a possible new round of strikes as early as 4 November, the day after the vote, although defence officials have assessed that no operation will be ordered before the elections unless Iran is detected preparing a surprise attack.
The remarks came on the same day that Iran's supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, ordered the armed forces to prepare for renewed confrontation and to expand their options for retaliation, telling commanders that any threat must be met with an 'immediate, effective response, without geographical limitations'. Tehran has repeatedly warned that it would strike American and Israeli targets in neighbouring countries if it is attacked again.
Diplomatic efforts have continued in parallel. Iranian negotiators held talks in Doha with Qatari mediators on Saturday, following more than twelve hours of discussions in Tehran on Friday, and Iran's foreign minister has said a plan agreed with the mediators could reopen the Strait of Hormuz within two days if Washington meets Tehran's conditions. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday that Trump had not decided on new strikes and would prefer a diplomatic resolution.
What happens next will turn on the days immediately after the midterm elections. If the diplomatic track in Doha produces a workable agreement, the threat of renewed strikes may recede; if it stalls, the combination of Trump's public warning, the Netanyahu call and the military planning now under way points to a possible resumption of fighting later this week. For now, both sides are holding their positions in public, and neither has announced a decision that would settle the question.
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