Trump does not rule out striking Iran again if it rebuilds nuclear sites

The Hague: US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that if Iran rebuilds nuclear facilities, the United States will carry out another strike on it.

Trump made the remarks on the sidelines of the NATO Summit going on here. Asked if the United States would strike again if Iran rebuilt its nuclear enrichment program, Trump said: “Sure.”

Trump also said Washington will not allow Tehran to continue enriching uranium, including using military means.

“We will not let that happen. Number one, militarily. I think we will end up having somewhat of a relationship with Iran,” he said, Xinhua news agency reported.

Earlier in the day, Trump strongly rejected a recent intelligence report which challenged the administration’s claim that US strikes “completely and totally obliterated” Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities.

The report by the US Defence Intelligence Agency disclosed by two American media outlets CNN and New York Times mentioned that strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities have delayed the nuclear programme only by a few months, while much of Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium was moved before the strikes.

“Fake news CNN, together with the failing New York Times, have teamed up in an attempt to demean one of the most successful military strikes in history. The nuclear sites in Iran are completely destroyed! Both the Times and CNN are getting slammed by the public,” Trump said on Truth Social on Wednesday slamming both media outlets.

During an interview with American media outlet Fox News, Steve Witkoff, the US President’s Special Envoy to the Middle East called the leaking of the report “treasonous” stating that that it needs to be investigated

“Well, it goes without saying that leaking that type of information — whatever the information, whatever side it comes out on — is outrageous. It’s treasonous, “So, it ought to be investigated, and whoever did it — whoever’s responsible for it — should be held accountable. It could hurt lives in the future. Leaking is a completely unacceptable thing,” said Witkoff.

IANS