Iran Hits U.S. Bases, State Media Says Iran Must Obtain Nukes as Trump Threatens Annihilation
As Iran and the United States traded blows this weekend, Iran’s state news agency announced that the country had no choice but to build a nuclear weapon to permit the country to negotiate from a position of strength with the United States.
One reason: Late yesterday, President Trump again threatened Iran with complete annihilation. He warned that Iran might soon “no longer exist” if the United States “is forced to military complete the job” it began on Israel’s behalf on February 26.
It appears that the ceasefire in the Memorandum of Understanding the two countries signed on June 17 is dead, despite the two countries creating a hotline to prevent more fighting.
Latest War News
The renewed fighting began after Iran struck a Singapore-flagged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, which invited a 90-minute retaliatory strike from U.S. forces on Iran’s coastal drone and missile storage facilities. Iran then attacked Bahrain.
Today, Iran targeted eight American facilities at a U.S. Navy base in Bahrain and the Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait “in retaliation for American attacks,” its Revolutionary Guard announced, The New York Times reported.
That strike, Iran said, retaliated for the U.S. retaliation.
“There were no immediate reports of American casualties or of major impacts or damage to U.S. assets early Sunday, according to a U.S. official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive operations,” the Times continued:
Kuwait’s army said early Sunday that it was responding to hostile missiles and drone threats, and Bahrain’s interior ministry said alarm sirens had sounded, although neither country identified the source of the threat.
The United States and Iran exchanged heated rhetoric following the latest round of strikes. President Trump posted a bellicose message on social media saying the barrage was intended to punish Iran for violating the current cease-fire. He said the U.S. military had hit missile and drone storage locations, as well as coastal radar sites.…
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said in its statement on Sunday that American bases in the region “will be experiencing hell during these days.” Earlier, Iran’s state broadcaster reported explosions in the coastal cities of Sirik, Kong and Bandar-e Lengeh near the Strait of Hormuz, an area that has been the target of past attacks. The official state news agency, IRNA, characterized the strikes in its news bulletin as a “violation of the cease-fire.”
It is unclear whether days of back-and-forth attacks will halt talks to reach a final peace agreement.
The latest fighting began after Friday’s New York Post report that the United States and Iran were creating a hotline to stop more attacks “as international forces prepare a major effort to clear mines from one of the world’s most critical shipping lanes.”
“The proposed communication channel between US Central Command and Tehran is a key result of Sunday’s US-Iran negotiations and would allow the two to quickly deconflict military activity and head off incidents that could spiral into a broader conflict,” the Post continued:
Vice President JD Vance described the arrangement as Iran sending “somebody from the IRGC to go hang out in Doha with somebody from CENTCOM” in a Thursday report by UnHerd.
“That’s how we’re going to settle a lot of these disputes,” he added.
Trump’s Threat, Iran to Develop Nuclear Weapon?
Late yesterday, in announcing another U.S. strike on the country, Trump reprised his threat to vaporize Iran.
“United States aircraft just struck Iranian missile and drone storage locations, and coastal radar sites, for violating the Cease Fire Agreement, AGAIN!” Trump wrote on Truth Social:
It is very possible that they will never learn! There may come a point when we are no longer able to be reasonable, and will be forced to militarily complete the job that we very successfully started. If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist!
On April 7, he announced that a “whole civilization will die tonight,” a threat he did not carry out.
Trump’s unhinged public statements are one reason Iran’s Fars news agency said the country must build a nuclear weapon.
An opinion piece titled No Choice But To Build The Atomic Bomb compares Iran’s problem with the United States to China’s 50 years ago, the Post reported.
“To achieve the peace and calm that Iran needs, it must absolutely reach nuclear deterrence to ensure that the rest of the issues can be resolved through negotiation,” the piece argues.
“America threatened China with nuclear attack twice — similar to Trump’s recent nuclear threats against Iran — but when did [Secretary of State Henry] Kissinger secretly meet with the Chinese and then negotiate? It was when China built the atomic bomb,” the article avers:
Nuclear deterrence means that you can reach a balance of power against America and Israel, who possess atomic bombs — not so that war does not happen, but so that the scope of conflict remains controllable.
The Hormuz Letter X account added that Trump’s threats are another reason Iran must build a nuclear deterrent:
Iran adds the acquisition is not only driven by negotiation leverage but also by Trump’s two recent nuclear threats against Iran, including his April warning that “a whole civilization will die tonight” and his May threat of “one big glow coming out of Iran.”
Trump uttered his “glow” threat in May in ordering Iran to sign a ceasefire agreement.
“I’ll let you know when there’s no ceasefire,” Trump said:
You won’t have to know if there’s no ceasefire. You’re not going to have to know. You’re just going to have to look at one big glow coming out of Iran. And they’d better sign their agreement fast.
Iran’s developing a nuclear weapon would violate a key provision of the U.S.-Iran Memorandum of Understanding. “Iran reaffirms that it shall not procure or develop nuclear weapons,” it says.
That aside, Trump has strongly suggested that he would attack Iran with a nuclear weapon three times.
