Trump Says Gulf States Prefer Diplomacy as He Warns Iran of Massive Strike

WASHINGTON, Nov 10: US President Donald Trump said Iran wants to reach an agreement with Washington, while warning that any major new US military strike could be approximately five times larger than the previous attack.

Trump made the remarks during a phone interview with C-SPAN’s Washington Journal, saying the duration of the conflict would depend on how the United States chose to proceed.

“We could knock it out fast, or we could knock it out over a short, not a long period of time,” Trump said.

He said he had spoken with regional countries, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait, and claimed they preferred the current approach rather than another major military assault.

“The reason I’m doing it this way is because in speaking with Qatar … Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait — basically the neighbors who were attacked pretty violently, by the way — they’d rather do it this way rather than another hit, which would be approximately five times bigger than the first hit,” Trump said.

Trump added that he also preferred the current approach and maintained that Tehran was interested in reaching an agreement despite not publicly acknowledging it.

“I can tell you that Iran would like to make a deal, and we’ll find out whether or not that’ll happen,” he said.

The US president also raised the possibility of military action against Pickaxe Mountain, a site linked to concerns over Iran’s nuclear activities. Trump said Washington had not seen evidence of renewed activity there but was closely monitoring the location.

“We may have to hit Pickaxe Mountain if they’re going to do something there,” he said, adding that the United States had strong surveillance capabilities over the site.

Trump reiterated his longstanding position that Iran would not be allowed to acquire a nuclear weapon.

The remarks came amid renewed diplomatic efforts involving regional mediators, with Trump also signaling after talks with Qatar’s prime minister that he sees a possible diplomatic path to preventing further escalation.