'Small potatoes for us': Trump plays down Iran conflict, issues fresh warning

US President Donald Trump on Friday issued a fresh threat to Iran, saying that the America could "hit" its heavily fortified underground nuclear site "very soon."Speaking to reporters at the Oval Office, Trump warned that Pickaxe Mountain could be targeted if the US detects activity there."We may hit Pickaxe very soon because if there was anything going on with Pickaxe," Trump said, adding that US intelligence was closely monitoring activity at the site."We know everybody that's moving at Pickaxe; we know everybody that's moving everywhere all over Iran. And if anything goes bad, we hit them; we hit them hard," Trump said.He also defended Unites States' military campaign in Iran and said that its primary objective was to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapon."We're in five months now. And you know what we did in five months? They're not going to have a nuclear weapon; that's what we did," Trump said."Iran will not have a nuclear weapon because if they did, you probably wouldn't be standing here very long," he added.Pickaxe Mountain is located near Iran’s heavily damaged Natanz uranium-enrichment facility and is described as a heavily fortified underground complex comprising two deeply buried tunnel systems.The Wall Street Journal had earlier reported that Israeli intelligence believes Iran has moved thousands of centrifuges to the deeply buried site.The facility’s underground construction is believed to make it significantly more resistant to conventional aerial strikes. Any potential US decision to target the site could therefore mark a major escalation in the campaign against Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.Asked about his deputy JD Vance's assertion that months of on-and-off attacks in the Middle East are not a war, Trump said that conflict in Iran is “small potatoes”“I can understand what he’s saying,” Trump said.“I call it a military conflict because it’s small potatoes for us. It's not a big thing," he added.His remarks came days after US Central Command said American forces had completed a fresh wave of strikes against Iranian military targets.According to CENTCOM, the operations targeted facilities linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including air-defence installations, radar systems, maritime assets, mine-laying capabilities and communications sites.CENTCOM said the strikes followed what it described as recent “attempted attacks” by the IRGC on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and US service members.Catch the latest World News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.