Trump May Resume Talks with Iran 'Later' and Prepares to Meet Kim Jong Un... 'Nuclear'
NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization) affirmed its readiness to address any threat and stated it would always do whatever is necessary to defend all member states, following reports by the Financial Times citing two high-level sources in Tehran that Iran is considering options to strike U.S. assets in southeastern Europe and target fiber-optic cables in the Strait of Hormuz, should U.S. President Donald Trump carry out his previous threats to target infrastructure.
For his part, Trump affirmed that the United States has “full control” over the Strait of Hormuz, emphasizing that large quantities of oil are currently flowing through this vital waterway.
During a tour of a new helicopter pad under construction at the White House, the U.S. President responded to a question about whether negotiations with Tehran would resume, saying, “Maybe at some point, but the situation is very good right now. Maybe at some point,” adding, “We will talk to Iran when it abandons its nuclear ambitions.”
Meanwhile, Trump said he would meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un this year, marking their first meeting since the start of his second term.
In a rare and unusually precise assessment of Kim’s nuclear arsenal, Trump added, “He has 57 very powerful nuclear weapons. That should never have been allowed to happen. But he has them. And I am in full agreement with him.”
Iranian sources told the British newspaper that Iranian forces had assessed the possibility of targeting U.S. sites in southeastern European countries such as Bulgaria, which last month agreed to allow the use of the Bezmer Air Base to refuel U.S. aircraft.
One source added that Cyprus, where a British air base was targeted by a drone last March, is also among the potential targets for retaliation.
The two sources also said that Iranian forces had separately studied the possibility of attacking undersea fiber-optic cables in the Strait of Hormuz should the confrontation escalate.
In Brussels, a NATO official told Reuters that the Alliance “is prepared to counter any threat and will always take the necessary measures to defend all member states.”
The official, whose name was not mentioned by the agency, added that “the Alliance’s stance was evident in its air defense intercepting ballistic missiles heading from Iran to Turkey in four incidents.”
Axios reported that the U.S. Missile Defense Agency is seeking to develop mobile radars capable of detecting ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and hypersonic missiles from remote locations with low military density, amid Iran’s targeting of fixed sensors over the past months.
