US President Donald Trump warned Monday night that the United States could strike Iran's Pickaxe Mountain nuclear facility within an hour if necessary, while expressing confidence that Tehran was interested in reaching a diplomatic agreement.
In an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News, Trump reiterated his determination to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
"We cannot let Iran, an evil nation, who has killed many of our people, Soleimani is an example, no longer with us, but killed many of our people, we cannot let them have a nuclear weapon, and we won't," Trump stated.
Asked about the possibility of additional military strikes, the President suggested that the United States could quickly target the remaining Iranian nuclear infrastructure.
"We bombed out all of their potential nuclear power. Now, we might have to go after Pickaxe [Mountain], but that's not a big deal. We can do it in, literally, we can do that in one hour, okay, as soon as we want, at any time we want."
Trump also disputed descriptions of the ongoing confrontation with Iran as a war, arguing that the absence of sustained fighting and the severe economic pressure on Tehran distinguished the current situation from a conventional military conflict.
"I mean, what's a war? A war is fighting. Take a look at World War I, World War II, these were..when was the last time you saw us fighting with them? We go months and months. We talk. They're in not a good negotiating position. Their economy is cratering because of us. They have 301 percent inflation. They don't have money. They're not paying their soldiers. They're not paying their police. We're not fighting a war."
The President maintained that American military operations had inflicted substantial damage on Iran's armed forces, particularly its navy, but said he believed a negotiated settlement remained possible.
"This is a very soft war. We did have a big hit on them, and we hit them very hard, and that took out their navy, 159 ships are gone. But this isn't like a war that's going on. It could happen if they don't make a deal, but they want to make a deal very badly, there's a very good chance we make a deal," he said.
Trump's interview aired hours after The Wall Street Journal reported that US forces had conducted a strike on Iran's Qeshm Island on Monday as part of a previously undisclosed campaign of limited military operations against Iranian targets.
A senior American official subsequently told Axios that a US fighter jet had destroyed a surface-to-air missile launcher on the island after Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) fired an anti-aircraft missile from the position. The official described the operation as an act of self-defense.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Washington has carried out smaller-scale strikes against Iran for several weeks without publicly announcing them. American officials described some of the operations as defensive measures aimed at preventing Iran from threatening commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.
One official said the administration had deliberately avoided publicizing the attacks to prevent the impression that it intended to restart major combat operations.
Earlier Monday, before the report emerged, Trump dismissed suggestions that a renewed large-scale conflict could follow Tuesday's midterm elections.
“We had a war with Iran. We won," Trump told reporters. “I don’t know if you even call it a war because we haven’t been doing any fighting for months."
He later expressed optimism that negotiations could produce an agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end Iran's nuclear program, pointing to declining oil prices as a sign of confidence in a diplomatic resolution.
"Oil Prices are DROPPING LIKE A ROCK, down almost $10 a Barrel, A RECORD, because people feel that there will not be a War with Iran. Iran wants a settlement, as soon as possible. It could happen!" Trump wrote on Truth Social.