-By Ismail Auwal
Iran has warned the American government against the country’s plan to attack Iran’s nuclear site. This is coming on the heel of a news that President Donald Trump is planning to launch a massive offensive on Iran’s nuclear facility.
In a statement streamed live, on Tuesday, on the Iranian government website, the official spokesman, Ali Rabiei, warned that, “Any action against the Iranian nation would certainly face a crushing response.”
“Trump is frustrated that his policy of maximum sanctions has not forced Iran back to the negotiating table and has not ruled out other military action against Iranian surrogate forces in the Middle East ahead of his first term ending in January.”
Rabiei also reiterated that the Iranians are keenly monitoring sudden personnel changes inside the Pentagon, including Trump’s removal of the defence secretary, Mark Esper, and the recruitment of a group of hardliners. The secrecy in which these changes are effected has made Iranian officials to be on guard for a potential military confrontation.
US officials said that President Trump had been dissuaded from striking the nuclear facility, but the possibility remains of targeting Iranian assets and allies outside of Iran, such as Iranian-aligned militias operating in Iraq.
New York Times has reported, last week, that Trump considered the options of striking Iran’s main nuclear site, but was dissuaded from taking action after his advisers warned it might lead to a big conflict in the Middle East.
According to the New York Times report, US officials told Trump last week that inspectors from UN nuclear watchdog had reported that Iran’s stockpile of nuclear material has increased significantly, and that Iran had barred their access to another site where there is evidence of prior nuclear activity.
