US President Donald Trump renewed his assertion that the United States has full control of the Strait of Hormuz, stressing during an election event in Arizona that Iran must be prevented from possessing a nuclear weapon, as reports emerged of US-Israeli discussions on the possibility of carrying out a new and major military operation against Tehran.
Trump threatens Iran with a severe strike
Speaking at the election event, Trump said: “We have to make sure that Iran does not have a nuclear weapon.” He added that NATO had not provided assistance to the United States, explaining that his country did not need any support related to what he described as the “Iran war”. The US president had previously declared, during an election event in Alaska, that his patience with Iran had run out and threatened it with a severe strike.
Addressing the audience, he said: “Wait and see what we do to Iran. We are going to land a severe strike on it, wait and see what we do, because we have really had enough of it.” Separately, the US news site Axios reported that Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had discussed, during a phone call held last week, the possibility of launching a new and major military operation against Iran before the Israeli and US elections.
The site attributed the information to US officials, an Israeli official and a fourth informed source, noting that the discussions took place at a sensitive time ahead of the two elections in Israel and the United States.
The Israeli official said Netanyahu told Trump during the phone call that he was concerned by Israeli intelligence indicating that Tehran was taking what he described as worrying steps to rebuild its nuclear programme.
