Iran warns of ‘crushing’ response after report Trump mulled military strike

Iran’s government on Tuesday warned that any U.S. attack would face a “crushing response” following a report that President Trump had to be dissuaded from launching a military strike against Iran during his final months in office.

“Any action against the Iranian nation would certainly face a crushing response,” government spokesman Ali Rabiei said, according to Reuters.

The New York Times reported that Trump held a meeting in the Oval Office on Thursday to discuss his options concerning a military strike against Iran in an attempt to stop Tehran’s growing nuclear program. One day earlier, the International Atomic Energy Agency reported that the country’s uranium stockpile was 12 times higher than allowed under the Iran nuclear deal, which the Trump administration left in 2018. Vice President Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller and Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, reportedly advised the president against a strike.

Rabiei claimed on Tuesday that Iran’s nuclear program is maintained for peaceful reasons, Reuters reported.

“I personally don’t foresee that it’s probable that [the United States] would want to cause insecurity in the world and the region,” Rabiei said.

Pompeo is set to make a visit to Israel, which has been at odds with Iran for decades, on Wednesday. 

“If I were the Iranians, I would not feel at ease,” Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz said, according to Reuters, referring to the reports.

He also said was not originally aware of the Oval Office meeting.

“It is very important that the Iranians know that if, indeed, they suddenly dash toward high levels of enrichment, in the direction of nuclear weaponry, they are liable to encounter the military might of the United States — and also, perhaps, of other countries,” Steinitz said on Israel’s Army Radio.