Trump Says US Would Counter Houthi Red Sea Threat, Signals More Strikes on Iran Nuclear Site

"Iran Wants Talks With the US, but I'm Not Interested"

President Donald Trump said the US would respond if the Iran-backed Houthi rebels moved to blockade the Red Sea, and he publicly raised the possibility of further strikes on Iran's underground nuclear facilities. The comments increased pressure on both Middle East oil shipping lanes and Iran's nuclear infrastructure.

Trump brushed aside the Houthi threat on July 21, saying, "If that happens, the United States will handle it," according to CNN and other media reports.

He said the Houthis have not carried out such a blockade so far, though it remains possible. If they do, the US will respond as it always has, he added. Trump did not say what that response would involve, but pointed to previous strikes.

"We took very strong action against the Houthis for about 45 days, and since then we've had no problems with them," Trump said. "They haven't had any friction with us for quite a long time, including during this conflict."

The Houthis raised tensions a day earlier by sending a warning message to Saudi vessels passing through the Red Sea. The move appeared aimed at stoking anxiety among global shippers and companies by raising the prospect of another clash along a key Middle East oil route.

Trump also signaled that the US could soon strike Iran's underground nuclear facility known as Pickaxe Mountain. The site is a fortified underground complex about one mile south of Natanz that Iran reported to the International Atomic Energy Agency as a location for assembling advanced centrifuges.

CNN, citing Israeli intelligence sources, reported that Iran moved some highly enriched uranium and advanced centrifuges to the site after last year's 12-day war. Trump rejected that account, saying there is no record that Iran moved centrifuges. He said nuclear material is the central issue and that the US is tracking it.

"We'll hit that area very hard in the very near future," he said. "There is no way for Iran to stop it." Trump made a similar comment last week in a conservative radio interview, saying Pickaxe could be attacked soon.

Trump also said the US has never finished its confrontation with Iran. Even if Washington withdrew now, he said, it would take Iran 20 to 25 years to rebuild. On US maritime blockade measures against Iran, he said no one can break through the cordon and described it as "like a steel wall."

Trump also said he would speak with China about his earlier allegation that Beijing interfered in the 2020 US presidential election. Commenting on the fire at a federal building in New York the previous day, he said it was the kind of act committed by people allowed into the country and suggested those responsible were immigrants, calling them "radical lunatics" and saying he would expel them.

Kang Kyung-ju, Hankyung.com reporter qurasoha@hankyung.com