CAIRO: U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to attack the heavily fortified Pickaxe Mountain site in Iran, and stated that the war with Iran could come to an immediate end after the midterm elections in November.
In an interview with Fox News on Wednesday, Trump stated that he thought Iran was attempting to affect the results of the American elections by continuing the war and putting pressure on Americans with gasoline prices.
Trump told reporters that he thinks war will end “right after the election” as Tehran “can’t hold out anymore.”
Republicans are hoping the November elections will bring them a continued control of Congress. The war and soaring gas prices have seen a significant drop in Trump’s popularity just in the lead-up to the election.
Inside his administration, Trump’s forecast was greeted with wariness. “Senior officials, including Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, privately expressed concerns that the war may continue into 2029, the final month of Trump’s term,” the Wall Street Journal reported. Reuters could not immediately verify that report.
Trump also reiterated that he is threatening to attack a fortified site called Pickaxe Mountain near Iran’s damaged uranium enrichment plant at Natanz. It has two deeply buried tunnel complexes and has been the subject of investigation due to its ties to Iran’s nuclear programme.
“We see a little bit of something is going on at Pickaxe,” Trump said in a speech at the Republican midterm convention in Dallas. If the Iranians continued, he said, “the Americans will respond with a heavy blow.”
Trump has threatened to attack the site since at least July. Pickaxe Mountain is thought to be a hard target due to its deep and robust underground facilities, Reuters reported earlier.
The latest developments followed the biggest round of attacks on shipping by the United States and Iran since the war started six months ago. Iran responded to an attack by the U.S. on five Iranian oil tankers, shooting at 10 vessels in the vicinity of the Strait of Hormuz. The strikes were in response to an attempted Iranian attack on a U.S. Navy warship, Washington said.
Shipping via the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea has been seriously affected by the fighting. Brent crude was fetching more than $100 per barrel, and only seven ships passed by the Strait on Wednesday, according to preliminary shipping data quoted by CNA.
In recent days, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis have stepped up attacks in Saudi Arabia as well, drawing tensions there. The Saudi-led coalition has reported that at least 73 people were injured in attacks on four southern Saudi cities.
On Thursday, Saudi civil defence authorities released another emergency notification in Khamis Mushait before eventually declaring the all clear.
Iran says its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes, one of the key motivations behind the military campaign being the continued concern of the United States and Israel about Tehran’s nuclear activities.
