Trump: May Have To Give Iran ‘The Hammer’
President Donald Trump says he has held off finishing the war because he wants to be nice, but that the US will have to hit Iran hard at some point, with no timeline given as Qatar-mediated diplomacy continues and the midterms near
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) - President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the United States may eventually have to give Iran “the hammer,” repeating his threat to resume strikes while Qatar and Pakistan continue to mediate between Washington and Tehran. He did not say when, speaking at a campaign rally in Dubuque, Iowa, two days before the November 3 midterm elections.
Trump said the only reason he has not finished with Iran is that he wants “to be nice” and to “save all those lives” if he can, AFP reported. “At some point we’re going to have to give them the hammer,” he told supporters. The rally at the Five Flags Center was the first of two stops in Iowa and Kansas, where Republicans are fighting to hold a Senate seat and their fragile House majority, as voters question the economic fallout of his tariffs and the Iran war, AP reported.
The threat is a familiar one on his campaign trail. CNN reported on October 22 that Trump routinely tells rally crowds a decisive end to the war is near, but that there is no guarantee he will order new strikes and he has backed off before when he seemed close to doing so. Iowa Republicans told CNN they were wary of renewed bombing because of the toll on farmers.
On Saturday, Trump told reporters in Florida that the US still has to deal with one or two Iranian sites, including the suspected underground nuclear complex known as Pickaxe Mountain, which he said can be done in 10 minutes. He said talks were going fine but that Iran is “not very reliable.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the same day that Trump has not decided on new strikes and that diplomacy continues. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Al Jazeera on Saturday that Tehran had studied the letter from US Vice President JD Vance and called it a positive step. Qatari mediators have been carrying terms between the two sides, and Araghchi has said Iran is working with intermediaries on its own seven-day proposal. Gulf officials have said Washington warned them that strikes could come as early as November 4.
The war began on February 28, when the US and Israel launched coordinated strikes on Iran, and Iran responded by hitting targets in several Gulf states. After about 40 days of intense bombing, Pakistan brokered a two-week ceasefire on April 8, which Trump extended indefinitely on April 21.
The two sides digitally signed a 14-point memorandum of understanding on June 17 aimed at ending the war and opening 60 days of talks on a final settlement. The US has not struck Iran since September 1, The Times of Israel reported, and Trump has pledged to refrain from further attacks until after the vote.
Tehran has not publicly answered Sunday’s remarks. Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has ordered a “geographically unrestricted” response to any threat, and the IRGC said Sunday that new targets and areas are on its agenda.
The vote on Tuesday will show how much of the threat survives the campaign.