Window for diplomacy with Iran may be closing as Trump again threatens Pickaxe Mountain
Israel still wary of Damascus, writes Ben Caspit from Israel; our correspondent in Tehran and Amberin Zaman explain how Iran and Turkey look to exploit Azerbaijan’s headscarf controversy; Qatar’s top diplomat offers energy assistance to Lebanon, Beatrice Farhat reports from Beirut.
From Washington: Trump repeats warning on Iranian nuclear site
US President Donald Trump made clear that Iran’s window for a deal on its nuclear program may be closing.
Trump said last week that “productive discussions” are taking place and that the US will not attack Iran before the US midterm congressional elections, scheduled for November 3.
On Thursday, Trump again threatened to attack Pickaxe Mountain, the location of a centrifuge assembly plant that may also be used for uranium enrichment, as Elizabeth Hagedorn writes from Washington. He also did not dispute reports that he would consider using the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb, or MOAB, the largest non-nuclear bomb in the US arsenal, in a subsequent attack, while also ruling out the use of ground troops.
