Trump on Iran: “At some point we’ll have to hit them hard”, citing Pickaxe Mountain and “one or two sites” he says can be neutralised in 10 minutes

US President Donald Trump said that “at some point” the United States will have to “hammer” Iran. On Saturday, October 31, he had said that “one or two sites” remain that could be neutralised in 10 minutes, and referred to Pickaxe Mountain, an underground complex near Natanz suspected of nuclear activity.

Mr Trump spoke on Sunday, November 1, at a campaign rally in Dubuque, Iowa. He told his supporters: “The only reason I haven’t finished with Iran is that I want to be nice. I want to try to save all those lives, if I can.” He added: “But at some point we’ll have to hit them hard.” He claimed again that US military action destroyed Iran’s nuclear capability and that the conflict will end soon. Khaama Press also writes that he presented the rise in fuel prices as a small price for US security and said prices would fall soon.

“One or two sites” and Pickaxe Mountain

On Saturday, October 31, speaking to reporters at his residence in Florida, Mr Trump had said: “We have destroyed their nuclear programme. We still have to neutralise, I would say, one or two sites, but we can do it in 10 minutes.” He continued: “Maybe you take a look at Pickaxe Mountain, and we have to neutralise it. We can do it all very quickly.” Pickaxe Mountain is an underground tunnel complex next to the Natanz nuclear facilities, which is suspected of nuclear activity. The Iranian government says no nuclear activity takes place there. We reported earlier on his earlier remarks on the site.

Mr Trump also said the negotiations are “going well”, but that the Iranians are “not very reliable”, and that the US is in no hurry to attack, since, as he argued, it has already seriously weakened the Iranian military and the nuclear programme.

The context: elections, diplomacy and threats

The same day, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Mr Trump has not decided on new strikes and that the US would be open to a diplomatic solution, adding that it can achieve its military objectives if it chooses to. Mr Trump has left open the possibility of military action after the elections and has said he will not attack before the midterm elections on November 3. Three senior Gulf officials told MS NOW that the US has warned allies in the region to prepare for possible strikes as early as Wednesday, November 4, the day after the elections, a possibility that had been reported earlier.

On the diplomatic front, Reuters reported that Iranian negotiators and Qatari mediators were talking in Doha on Sunday for the third day running. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran remains ready for both diplomacy and defence. Mohsen Rezaei, a member of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said he had received a letter from US Vice President JD Vance and had not yet replied. Iran is demanding the release of frozen funds, an end to the US naval blockade of its ports and the lifting of sanctions.

Iranian army spokesman Mohammad Akraminia warned that a new war could last longer than the previous one and that Washington would not be able to dictate its timing or terms. Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei had called, in a statement to senior commanders, for an immediate response without geographic limits to any level or type of threat.