He stressed that any Iranian regime loyal to the Islamic Revolution "will always have the motivation to restore its capabilities," warning that this would include nuclear weapons if given the chance.
Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency said earlier that initial reports indicated that two missiles had struck Qeshm Island, adding that there was no official information on possible damage.
"I would rather not destroy the rest of the country if possible," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office following a meeting with his national security advisers, "but maybe I'll have to."
Iran sent the US a nuclear proposal via Qatar later on Thursday, which it said it would discuss only after Washington meets its seven demands, a senior Iranian official told Reuters.
There is also a lack of clarity about why the nuclear program, which has been singled out as the reason for the conflict, has not been eviscerated, despite the time provided for the conflict.
Ahead of accepting the Friedrich Naumann Foundation’s Freedom Prize, Reza Pahlavi tells the ‘Post’ that European leaders increasingly recognize the need to end the Islamic Republic.
A day later, the Financial Times reported that Russia had signed a weapons deal with Iran to supply the regime with 90 advanced guided missile launchers.
In past decades, Iranian officials have publicly endorsed the fatwa issued by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei forbidding the development and use of nuclear weapons.
The conservative historian accused Democrats of antisemitism and urged Trump to bring the Iran campaign to a decisive end ahead of the 2028 election.
Nearly 47 years after Iran's Islamic Revolution, authorities are cracking down on jewelry bearing the Lion and Sun, a symbol of growing opposition.
Khamenei called for Iran to have "the absolute deterrence" in a message marking "Day of Fighting Global Arrogance," adding that “The US sees the end of its hegemony as distant; we see it as near.”
