Trump Warns U.S. Is ‘Locked and Loaded’ for New Strikes, Says Tehran Cannot Act Without American Approval
President Donald Trump warned Thursday that the United States is fully prepared to launch another round of military strikes against Iran, declaring that Tehran will never be permitted to develop nuclear weapons and suggesting that a decision on further American military action could come soon.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said he would prefer to avoid additional destruction in Iran but made clear that American forces remain ready to resume operations if negotiations fail to produce an acceptable agreement.
The president also asserted that Iran’s leadership is now operating under severe American restrictions following previous military operations against the country.
“They’re not doing anything without our approval. Remember what I said to you: Iran will never have a nuclear weapon. They’re not doing anything without our approval.”
Trump rejected suggestions that the confrontation with Iran should be compared to the prolonged fighting between Russia and Ukraine, arguing that the relative absence of recent casualties demonstrated that the two conflicts were fundamentally different.
“Nobody’s been killed in about seven months, six months.And you know, if you look at Russia, Ukraine, see, that’s a war. 25,000 people being killed a month. That’s war. Iran, no,” he insisted.
When questioned about whether Washington was preparing to carry out additional attacks, Trump declined to reveal his immediate plans but suggested that developments could become apparent shortly.
“I would rather not destroy the rest of the country if possible, but maybe I’ll have to. You will know soon enough.”
“If we have to do the rest of the Iran thing, we’re very much locked and loaded,” he stressed.
The president’s warning came just two days after Republicans suffered major losses in the midterm elections, handing Democrats control of both chambers of Congress amid widespread voter dissatisfaction with the administration’s handling of the Iran conflict and its economic consequences.
Trump also indicated that the White House was preparing a series of announcements and initiatives over the coming days, although he offered no specifics about what they would involve.
“We’re going to do a lot of things. You’ll be seeing a lot of things over the next week, two weeks. We have a lot of things cooking,” he said.
Trump’s latest warning came as diplomatic efforts involving Qatar appeared to be gaining momentum, with Iran reportedly examining proposals aimed at resolving the dispute over its nuclear program. The discussions follow weeks of resistance from Tehran to renewed negotiations with Washington.
According to officials familiar with the talks, the proposals contain substantive provisions concerning Iran’s nuclear activities, although their precise terms have not been publicly disclosed. The renewed diplomatic activity has raised the possibility of an agreement that could avert another round of American attacks.
In a further development Thursday, a senior Iranian official said Tehran had submitted a nuclear proposal to Washington through Qatar. The official indicated that Iran wanted the United States to satisfy seven demands before negotiations could proceed, while American officials were reviewing the Iranian submission.
Earlier in the week, Trump told the Financial Times that he was not planning an immediate new military campaign against Iran, expressing confidence that Washington held a strong negotiating position.
“It’s a brilliant situation,” Trump said.
The president also challenged descriptions of the confrontation as an ongoing war, pointing to previous American operations that he said had severely damaged Iran’s nuclear capabilities.
“We’re not really in a war, because we hit them with the B2 bombers and wiped out their nuclear potential incapacity. We then hit them again, Epic Fury, etc… But if you think about it, we haven’t really had a war with them in a long time, six months, maybe more.”
