Netanyahu leaves further Iran strikes open; Trump says US troops may stay longer
Israel's prime minister calls Iran's leadership a danger that will return as long as it is not removed. Trump says the United States must make sure Iran "doesn't come back."
Archive image · Photo: The White House / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain (cropped and resized)
Ten days before Israel's parliamentary election, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu left the door open to further military action against Iran. The leadership in Tehran is a threat that will return as long as it is not removed, he told the i24News channel on Saturday, according to a report by Iran International: "If you don't remove this regime in Iran, it will come back." He also accused Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas of seeking to influence the Oct. 27 election.
U.S. President Donald Trump said at a campaign event in Kentucky that the United States had defeated Iran militarily and destroyed its nuclear capabilities, according to Iran International. American forces could remain in the region longer: "We have to make sure it doesn't come back." Revolutionary Guards spokesman Hossein Mohebbi criticized the label "mother of all bombs" for the U.S. GBU-43/B bomb, whose use in possible new strikes is being considered according to U.S. media, as a sign of a "barbaric civilization."
Iran's Foreign Ministry said border crossings into Pakistan had been temporarily closed due to technical problems and as a precaution. Vice President Mohsen Esmaeili said Iran must quickly reduce its dependence on its southern ports in light of the restrictions at sea.