The Hague: Speaking at the NATO summit in The Hague, US President Donald Trump reaffirmed that the United States will launch additional military strikes if Iran restarts its uranium enrichment program.
He emphasized that after destroying Iran’s key nuclear sites—including Fordow—any efforts at enrichment will be met with immediate force.
Trump also noted that there were minor ceasefire violations early on, but insisted Israel was now fully observing the ceasefire terms. He credited the arrangement to his direct intervention, adding that Israeli jets had returned home at his request.
During his remarks, Trump declared that the destruction at Iran’s Fordow nuclear site was “obliteration,” asserting that “now Iran will not be enriching uranium for a long time” and that making a bomb would be “very hard.” When asked whether renewed enrichment would trigger another strike, Trump replied, “Yes, we will hit them again”.
According to Reuters, the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking later to Politico, echoed Trump’s tone.
He stated that the strikes have put Iran “much further away from a nuclear weapon” by causing “very significant, substantial damage” to multiple components of its nuclear infrastructure. Rubio also dismissed mainstream media reports suggesting the program had only been delayed by months, calling them “false”.
At the same summit, Trump urged NATO allies to dramatically increase their defence budgets to 5% of GDP by 2035. He acknowledged that intelligence assessments about Iranian nuclear destruction were “inconclusive” but maintained that the operation was “very severe” and described it as an “obliteration.” NATO Secretary‑General Mark Rutte credited Trump with pushing member states toward higher defense spending, praising the move as “big news”.
