Trump warns US could bomb Iran again if uranium enrichment resumes

Washington: US President Donald Trump has sharply criticised Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and said he had abandoned plans to lift sanctions on Iran and would consider bombing the country again if Tehran was found to be enriching uranium to worrisome levels.

Trump reacted sternly on Friday to Khamenei’s first remarks after the 12-day conflict with Israel that ended when the US launched bombing raids against Iranian nuclear sites last weekend.

US President Donald Trump says he has dropped plans to ease sanctions on Iran after comments from the country’s supreme leader.Credit: AP

Khamenei said Iran had “slapped America in the face” by launching an attack against a major US military base in Qatar following the bombing raids on three of Iran’s key nuclear sites. Khamenei also said Iran would never surrender.

In response, Trump said he had spared Khamenei’s life. American officials told Reuters on June 15 that Trump had vetoed an Israeli plan to kill the supreme leader.

“His Country was decimated, his three evil Nuclear Sites were OBLITERATED, and I knew EXACTLY where he was sheltered, and would not let Israel, or the US Armed Forces, by far the Greatest and Most Powerful in the World, terminate his life,” Trump said in a social media post.

“I SAVED HIM FROM A VERY UGLY AND IGNOMINIOUS DEATH.

Trump added: “Iran has to get back into the World Order flow, or things will only get worse for them. I wish the leadership of Iran would realise that you often get more with HONEY than you do with VINEGAR.”

Meanwhile, thousands of mourners lined the streets of Tehran on Saturday for the funerals of the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and other top commanders and nuclear scientists killed during the Israeli strikes.

The caskets of Revolutionary Guard chief General Hossein Salami, the head of Iran’s ballistic missile program, General Amir Ali Hajizadeh and others were driven on trucks along the capital’s Azadi Street as people in the crowds chanted: “Death to America” and “Death to Israel.”

Mourners surround the flag-draped coffins of Iranian generals and nuclear scientists killed in the Israeli strikes.Credit: AP

Salami and Hajizadeh were both killed on the first day of the war in strikes Israel said were meant to destroy Iran’s nuclear program, specifically targeting military commanders, scientists and nuclear facilities.

There was no immediate sign of Khamenei at the funeral. The supreme leader has in the past been shown on state TV holding prayers for fallen commanders, but he has not made a public appearance since before the outbreak of the war.

Earlier, Iran said a potential nuclear deal was conditional on the US ending its “disrespectful tone” towards the supreme leader.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said in a post on X on Saturday: “If President Trump is genuine about wanting a deal, he should put aside the disrespectful and unacceptable tone towards Iran’s Supreme Leader, Grand Ayatollah Khamenei, and stop hurting his millions of heartfelt followers.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi pictured in September.Credit: Anadolu via Getty Images

Trump also said he had been working on the possible removal of sanctions on Iran in recent days, to give the Middle Eastern country a chance for a speedy recovery. But, he said, he had now abandoned that effort.

“I get hit with a statement of anger, hatred and disgust, and immediately dropped all work on sanction relief, and more,” he said.

The president said on Wednesday that the US and Iran would talk next week and “may” sign an agreement. Tehran has denied that discussions are scheduled to resume.

Strikes ‘without question’

Trump said at a White House news conference that he did not rule out attacking Iran again when asked about the possibility of new bombing of its nuclear sites if deemed necessary.

“Sure, without question, absolutely,” he said.

Trump said he would like inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) – the UN nuclear watchdog – or another respected body to inspect the nuclear facilities after they were bombed last weekend.

The president has rejected any suggestion that the damage to the sites was not as profound as he has said.

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said this week that ensuring the resumption of inspections was his top priority as none had taken place since Israel began attacking Iran on June 13.

The IAEA reported in May that Iran had amassed 409 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60 per cent – an almost 50 per cent increase from the volume recorded three months prior.

Iran maintains that its nuclear program has no military dimension. But on June 12, the IAEA said Iran had breached its responsibilities to co-operate with inspectors and that the agency was unable to determine whether the country’s nuclear program was “exclusively peaceful”.

The location of Iran’s highly enriched uranium is now an open question.

According to Grossi, it was last seen by agency monitors a few days before the start of Israel’s bombing campaign, which provoked a halt to inspections.

At that point, the stockpile was at the Isfahan Nuclear Technology and Research Centre, a hub for chemical processes that turn uranium ore into feedstock that can be enriched. This facility in central Iran was targeted by Israel and later the US.

Iran said in a note circulated at the IAEA and dated three weeks before Israel’s first strike that in the event of such an attack, Iran would take “special measures” to move the highly enriched uranium to a fortified location.

After the bombardment began, Grossi said he received a letter from the Iranian foreign minister, saying those measures had been implemented.

Iranian authorities have not responded to Grossi’s demands to inform his inspectors of the new location, and on Wednesday, Iran’s parliament approved moves to suspend such inspections.

Araqchi also indicated on Friday that Tehran might reject any request by the head of the agency for visits to Iranian nuclear sites.

The risk is that Iran’s already near-weapons-grade uranium could be hidden away indefinitely.

According to the IAEA, the amount of uranium Iran is known to have can be stored in 16 cylinders measuring 91.4 centimetres in height, about the size of a large scuba-diving tank. Each one would weigh about 25 kilograms – light enough to be carried on a person’s back.

Trump said Iran still wants to meet about the way forward.

But the White House said on Thursday that no meeting between the US and an Iranian delegation had yet been scheduled.

Reuters, Bloomberg

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