US President Donald Trump threatened Iran with a "hammer," and Tehran responded. UNN reports this, citing AFP.
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Iran warned on Sunday, November 1, that any resumption of war with the United States could last longer than the previous round of hostilities after President Donald Trump said he still needed to "take care of" more targets.
Diplomatic efforts to end the war in the Middle East have been interrupted by repeated threats from the United States and Israel to resume bombing, against the backdrop of their holding important elections.
"A potential future war could last longer than the previous conflict, and the American president will not be able to dictate the timing or terms of its end," army spokesman Mohammad Akraminiya said, according to Iranian state television.
At the most intense stage of the war, which began on February 28 with US-Israeli strikes on Iran, Tehran responded with missile and drone attacks across the region. Armed groups linked to Iran joined the fighting in Lebanon and Yemen.
Akraminiya's remarks came after Trump suggested that the United States could quickly strike the rest of its targets in Iran.
"We still need to take care of, I would say, one or two sites, but we can do that in 10 minutes," Trump told reporters.
"You could probably look at Mount Pikaks, and that needs to be taken care of. We can do all of that very quickly," he added, referring to the suspected underground nuclear facility.
Trump repeated his threat on Sunday, November 1, saying at a campaign rally in Iowa ahead of the midterm elections that he might have to give Tehran a "hammer" at some unspecified time.
Separately, before the rally, Trump said, as reported by CBS News, that he believed the United States would soon end the war with Iran, "one way or another." "We achieved such a victory, and we will end this very soon, one way or another," Trump said. "Either they will make a deal, or we will simply end it. … The work we have done is incredible."
The warning came after US media reported that Trump spoke by phone on Saturday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about whether and when to intensify military operations against the Islamic Republic.
Netanyahu urged Trump to strike Iran after the U.S. elections – Axios01.11.26, 23:21
Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Trump confirmed that he had discussed Iran with Netanyahu but did not go into detail.
As CNBC notes, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that President Donald Trump would like to resolve the war with Iran "through diplomacy" and prefers not to use military force.
Speaking over the weekend, Rubio told reporters that "He [Trump] has not yet made a decision... the president is expressing to you incredible confidence that if we needed to do something militarily, we would have the ability to do it, and we really do have everything necessary to succeed. But we would prefer to do this peacefully."
Iran's senior military and political officials have warned against any new strikes.
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps spokesman Hossein Mohebbi on Sunday, AFP notes, repeated a warning made a day earlier in a written statement by Iran's new Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei.
"There are no geographical limits in a conflict with America; a vast theater of military operations has been designated to inflict harm on the enemy," Mohebbi said, according to state television.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said: "We hope the other side will show rationality and choose diplomacy," adding that Iran "remains ready for both defense and diplomacy," according to the official IRNA news agency.
The warnings came after Iran's security chief, Mohsen Rezaei, said on Saturday, October 31, that he had received a letter from US Vice President J.D. Vance requesting the resumption of negotiations.
Rezaei noted what he called a positive change in the US "tone" but said he had not yet responded.
He said that Tehran had previously informed Washington that if its conditions were not met, "the Strait of Hormuz would not be reopened, nor would there be any negotiations."
These conditions include the unfreezing of Iranian assets abroad, the lifting of the months-long U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports, the cancellation of longstanding sanctions, and an end to the war on all fronts.
Since the beginning of the war, Iran has claimed control over the Strait of Hormuz, a vital global energy hub, and has repeatedly attacked vessels attempting to cross it without its permission.
The United States has imposed a naval counter-blockade of Iranian ports.
Anwar Gargash, the diplomatic adviser to the Emirati president, said on Sunday that the United Arab Emirates hoped that an exchange of agreements would lead to a breakthrough, but was preparing for the worst.
"The region is not interested in going through another round... But I think that we are also, as we have shown before, prepared for the worst," he said at a conference in Manama.
The U.S. could launch a powerful strike against Iran if Republicans lose — Axios01.11.26, 05:28