President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he is not concerned that Iran could carry out a terrorist attack inside the United States in retaliation for the ongoing war between the United States and Israel.
When Trump was asked whether he feared such a domestic attack, he told a reporter outside the White House, “No, I don’t think so.”
Before leaving for a trip to Kentucky and Ohio, Trump also announced progress in the war against Iran, which is in its 11th day.
“Right now, they’ve lost their navy, their air force. They don’t have any anti-aircraft equipment,” the president said. “Their leaders are gone, and we could do worse.”
Trump said the U.S. military was “dropping some things” in Iran that could be destroyed by noon if needed, and “they’ll literally never be able to get that country back.”
Later in the day, Trump told reporters upon arriving at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland that the US had detected all Iranian “sleeper cells” – covert groups hidden in foreign countries that remain dormant until activated to carry out terrorist attacks.
Trump said, “We know where the Iranian ‘sleeper cells’ are… We have an eye on all of them.” He also said the US is in “very good shape” in a war against Iran, according to a Reuters feed of his remarks.
Trump said, the US military has destroyed about 16 landmines of Iran. Asked whether Iran had mined the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most sensitive choke point for oil shipments, Trump said, “We don’t think so.”
In a report on Tuesday citing two people familiar with US intelligence reporting, CNN said Iran has begun laying mines in the strait. Although only a few dozen in recent times.
“I think they should send tankers through the narrow strait, which is effectively closed because of the war,” Trump said, referring to the CEOs of major oil companies.
An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman warned on Monday that tankers passing through the strait “should be very careful.”
The Strait of Hormuz, located off the southern coast of Iran, connects the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Sea.
Insurance giant Chubb said on Wednesday it would serve as lead underwriter for a US government-led program to provide insurance to ships passing through the strait.
Trump dodged a question on Wednesday New York Times reportWhich said that “Newly released video adds to the evidence that a US missile probably targeted an Iranian elementary school where 175 people, many of them children, were reported killed.”
Trump said, “I don’t know about that” finding, which supports other analyzes that the US military was responsible. Attack on Shajrah Taybeh Primary School on 28 February.
The President again criticized Spain’s leadership for not helping the American war effort.
“We can cut trade with Spain,” said Trump, who is willing to use tariffs and other retaliatory trade practices for leverage against other countries.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has faced Trump’s wrath for blocking US forces from using two bases in Andalusia to launch attacks on Iran.
Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian, in an X post on WednesdayWrote that “In talks with the Presidents of the Governments of Russia and Pakistan, declaring the commitment of the Islamic Republic to peace and tranquility in the region, I stressed that the only way to end the war that began with the Zionist regime and America’s warmongering is to accept Iran’s indisputable rights, pay reparations and a firm international obligation to prevent the recurrence of their aggression.”