Trump says US has plan to act against one or two sites in Iran

Donald Trump says the United States still needs to deal with “one or two sites” in Iran and has a plan to do so, raising the prospect of further strikes as negotiations continue.

Speaking to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on 31 October, the US president said the action could be carried out in ten minutes. That was his estimate of how long it would take, not a deadline or an announced start time.

Trump named Pickaxe Mountain, also known as Kolang, but did not identify a second site. Asked separately whether he expected a return to war with Iran the following week, he declined to say.

His remarks about the sites came in response to a question about the timetable for Qatar-mediated negotiations. Trump said the US was not in much of a hurry. He also described the talks as “going fine”, while calling Iran “not very reliable”.

At an election rally in Dubuque, Iowa, on 1 November, Trump said the US would have to “give them the hammer” at some point. He did not give a date.