Trump: U.S. would bomb Iran again if it restarts uranium enrichment

President Trump threatened to carry out airstrikes on Iran again if the Islamic Republic restarts enriching uranium at sites already hit by the U.S. and Israel.

Speaking to reporters Monday at his Turnberry golf resort in Scotland, Mr. Trump said that Tehran’s belligerent statements had worried him and that Iran should think twice before restarting its enrichment program.

“We wiped out their nuclear possibilities. They can start again. If they do, we’ll wipe it out faster than you can wave your finger at it,” the president said.

The U.S. carried out strikes in June on three Iranian enrichment facilities: Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz. Israeli airstrikes had already hit the facilities, but the U.S.-made “bunker buster” bombs were needed to inflict substantial damage on the fortifications.

Reports indicate that U.S.-led strikes severely damaged three of Iran’s largest uranium enrichment centers, but several analyses have concluded that Iran would be able to restart enrichment soon.

Tehran has long insisted that enrichment is key to Iran’s sovereignty and that it has the right to enrichment under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

U.S. negotiators drew the line at allowing Iran to continue enriching uranium during talks earlier this year, with Iran-hawks like Secretary of State Marco Rubio insisting that Tehran will use the nuclear infrastructure to complete a nuclear bomb.

Iran denies pursuing a nuclear weapon, saying its enrichment sites are purely for civilian and commercial purposes. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued a fatwa against the proliferation of nuclear weapons in 2003 that has remained in place ever since, despite rumored protests from some Iranian officials.

Mr. Trump’s comments may complicate any future Iran-U.S. nuclear talks, which have been put on ice since the Israel-Iran war in June. Since the war, Iran has ramped up its anti-U.S. rhetoric and has demanded certain guarantees from Washington before restarting talks.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Monday that his country would respond in kind if the U.S. carried out new aggression.

“If aggression is repeated, we will not hesitate to react in a more decisive manner and in a way that will be IMPOSSIBLE to cover up,” Mr. Araghchi posted on X. “If there are concerns about the possible diversion of our nuclear program into non-peaceful purposes, the ‘military option’ proved incapable — but a negotiated solution may work.”