Iran vowed to respond harshly after US president Donald Trump threatened to attack the country again over its weapons programmes.
Speaking beside Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida on Monday, Mr Trump said the US could support another strike on Iran if it resumed a nuclear weapons programme or refused to stop making ballistic missiles.
He said Tehran might be working to restore its weapons programmes after a US strike on three nuclear facilities in June. That strike, which came in support of Israel’s 12-day war on the Islamic republic in June, reportedly proved unsuccessful in destroying the alleged nuclear weapon’s programme.
“Now I hear that Iran is trying to build up again, and if they are, we are going to have to knock them down. We’ll knock them down. We’ll knock the hell out of them,” Mr Trump told reporters. “But hopefully that’s not happening.”
“I heard Iran wants to make a deal. If they want to make a deal, that’s much smarter,” the US president continued.
“You know, they could have made a deal the last time before we went through, you know, a big attack on them. And, they didn’t, they decided not to make a deal. They wish they had made that deal. So, I think, again, they should make a deal.”
Mr Trump’s remarks drew a sharp rebuke from an aide to Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei who warned that “any aggression will face an immediate harsh response beyond its planner’s imagination”.
Ali Shamkhani said Iran’s ”missile capabilities and defence are not containable or permission-based”.
Mr Trump said his talks with Mr Netanyahu focused on advancing the fragile Gaza ceasefire deal that he helped broker and addressing Israeli concerns over Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
Iran said last week that it had conducted missile exercises for the second time this month.
Mr Netanyahu said last week Israel was not seeking a confrontation with Iran but was aware of the reports and would raise Tehran’s activities with Mr Trump.
Mr Trump claimed that the US and Israel had been “extremely victorious” against their enemies and that if the US “didn’t beat Iran, you wouldn’t have had peace in the Middle East”.
Asked whether he would support Israel’s attack on the Iranian missile programme, Mr Trump said: “If they will continue with the missiles, yes. The nuclear? Fast. OK? One will be: Yes, absolutely. The other is: We’ll do it immediately.”
Tehran has repeatedly denied pursuing nuclear weapons and has rejected any talks on its missile programme, describing it as non-negotiable and central to its defence.
