Trump says US must still 'take care' of Iran nuclear targets

Remaining targets

President Donald Trump said on Saturday the United States remains prepared to strike one or two remaining Iranian targets including Pickaxe Mountain, declaring that American forces could neutralize the suspected nuclear site "in 10 minutes" despite ongoing negotiations to end the war. "We've knocked out their nuclear. We still have to take care of, I would say one or two sites, but we can do that in 10 minutes," Trump told reporters at his Florida residence. "You probably could look at Pickaxe Mountain, and you have to take care of that. We can do that all very quickly," he added.

Diplomatic path

The comments came as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicated earlier Saturday that the White House has not decided on fresh strikes and would consider a diplomatic path to resolve the conflict that began when Washington and Tel Aviv launched military action against the Islamic Republic in late February. Trump maintained that negotiations with Tehran were "going fine but you know they're not very reliable," while stressing that Washington was not rushing to escalate because it had already decimated Iran's military infrastructure and nuclear program.

Iranian warnings

Iran's supreme leader on Saturday warned the United States and Israel against launching new attacks, responding to Trump's previous threats to resume strikes following upcoming midterm elections. The US president has suggested he might order additional military action after the polls, stating earlier that he was weighing whether to "finish them off" — rhetoric that accompanies ongoing tensions despite Rubio's diplomatic overtures.