By Gloria Ogbonna
President Donald Trump said Monday that any future agreement with Iran must include inspections of the country’s heavily fortified Pickaxe Mountain nuclear site by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), while accusing the Iranian regime of repeatedly violating agreements and warning that the United States is prepared to strike the location if necessary.
Speaking on The Hugh Hewitt Show, Trump argued that Iran has a long history of breaking its commitments, saying he has little confidence that the current regime would honor any future deal without strict verification measures.
The discussion began when host Hugh Hewitt asked whether Trump would require IAEA inspectors to gain access to the deeply buried Pickaxe Mountain facility before entering into another agreement with Tehran.
“Iran broke the first ceasefire. They broke another one over the weekend,” Hewitt said. “You have obliterated three of their nuclear sites, but they’ve got a fourth site, maybe, at Pickaxe Mountain. Before you enter into another deal, will you insist that IAEA inspectors get down into that deep, deep, deep tunnel and find out if they’ve got a doomsday machine down there?”
Trump responded that inspections would be a non-negotiable condition of any future agreement.
“Absolutely,” Trump said. “They don’t have it, because we have eyes. With the Space Force and everything else, we have a lot of eyes on it.”
The president added that the United States is closely monitoring activity at the site and suggested the facility could become the target of future military action if circumstances warrant.
“Pickaxe is a possible target for a nice, big, fat shot right into the front door,” Trump said. “And I think that you’ll—maybe you’ll see that. I’ll tell them right now.”
Trump went on to say that Pickaxe Mountain remains on the U.S. military’s list of potential targets and claimed American intelligence has not detected significant activity there.
“It is on the list,” he said. “We’re watching it closely. We see no activity there. They’re not doing well with their nuclear situation. Every time we hear about it, we blow it up. So they don’t like talking about it. But we’ll probably give Pickaxe a shot relatively soon.”
The conversation later turned to Iran’s leadership and whether the current government could ever be trusted to negotiate in good faith. Hewitt asked Trump whether he believed the Iranian regime would continue threatening the United States and whether removing the government should become a priority during the remainder of his presidency.
Trump responded by sharply criticizing Iran’s leadership, describing its members as unpredictable and accusing them of abandoning agreements at the last moment.
“Well, I think they’re a little cuckoo,” Trump said. “I think they all are. We knocked out the first regime. We then knocked out the second regime. We then took out about 25% of this regime. And they’re wired a little bit differently.”
Trump claimed negotiations had repeatedly reached the point of a completed agreement before Iranian officials unexpectedly walked away.
“We had a deal yesterday. It was like going to be 100%, and then all of a sudden, they got a phone call, and they all ran out of the room,” he said. “These people are crazy. We had a deal where we won everything.”
The president argued that Iran has developed a reputation for violating international agreements, saying the regime cannot be relied upon to keep its promises.
“They basically break the deals,” Trump said. “They make deals, and, to them, deals are made to be broken. They are extremely unreliable people.”
Trump also expressed concern about Iran’s nuclear ambitions, arguing that preventing the country from acquiring a nuclear weapon must remain a top U.S. priority.
“Frankly, if they ever had a nuclear weapon, they’d use it within one day,” he said.
Later in the interview, Trump described a previously discussed memorandum of understanding (MOU) as a test of Iran’s willingness to comply with its commitments. According to Trump, Iranian officials failed that test by refusing to follow through on agreements that had already been negotiated.
“The MOU was a test,” Trump said. “They didn’t honor the test. We had this deal settled numerous times, and I said, ‘Watch, I guarantee, watch,’ and they never followed it. They break deals. Look, they’re known for it. They’re known for it.”
Concluding the interview, Trump reiterated his warning regarding the underground nuclear facility, making clear that the United States remains prepared to take military action if it determines the site poses a threat.
“We’re going to take out Pickaxe Mountain,” Trump said.
Source Breitbart
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