Trump says ‘we’re not finished at all’ as US strikes intensify in Iran

Supervising Producer

WASHINGTON —

President Donald Trump is scheduled to attend the dignified transfer of remains for U.S. service members killed in the Iran War, as the conflict continues into its 11th day of renewed fighting with no signs of de-escalation.

Trump will travel to Dover Air Force Base Wednesday morning for the transfer. Speaking about the event, he said, “I feel it’s a great honor for me to do it.”

4th soldier killed since Friday identified

Tuesday night, the Pentagon identified the fourth U.S. soldier killed since Friday. Sgt. Angel Rampersad, 28, of New York, is believed to have died during an Iranian attack in Jordan. This brings the total number of U.S. service members killed in the Iran War to 18.

Rampersad was one of three soldiers killed in the incident last Friday. The Pentagon previously identified 19-year-old Isabella Gonzales of Texas and 25-year-old Tyler Feehan of Hawaii.

On Tuesday, Trump suggested someone other than Iran was responsible for the soldiers’ deaths. “They [Iran] did slip something through in Jordan, and if we had other operators, it would have– would not have happened, unfortunately,” Trump said. “When you let other people do your job, with the United States, we let other people do the job, and sometimes it doesn’t work out so well.”

The Pentagon also identified a service member killed in Iraq during the controlled detonation of an Iranian drone on Sunday as Sgt. Michael Swinton, 30, of North Carolina.

A U.S. official told the Associated Press that more than 500 U.S. personnel have been injured in this war, a figure higher than the Pentagon’s Defense Casualty Analysis System’s official tally of 482.

Trump suggests no end to war in near term

The U.S. appears to be moving further away from reviving the memorandum of understanding and ceasefire and long-term talks to permanently end the war.

Trump told reporters on Tuesday, “They [Iran] want to desperately meet, and until they’re ready to meet in a meaningful way, we have no interest.”

Iran has continued to attack commercial ships in the Gulf region along with U.S. military bases across the Middle East, including civilian targets in those countries. Trump suggested Iran is sending a different message “behind the scenes.”

“We’re not finished at all, but if we left right now, it would take them a long time, years, years to rebuild. But we’re not leaving right now,” Trump said. “Honestly, they haven’t seen anything yet. We’ve been nice.”

The U.S. military launched an 11th consecutive night of strikes in Iran on Tuesday, targeting aircraft hangars and drone storage sites. These strikes followed Trump’s earlier statements that attacks would begin to intensify.

As the scope of the war expands and negotiations remain at a standstill, both sides have targeted civilian infrastructure relied upon by millions in the region.

Pickaxe Mountain in the spotlight

The president is also threatening to bomb Pickaxe Mountain, which is a deep underground nuclear facility Iran is building near a similar site known as Natanz that the U.S. bombed last summer.

Trump said those bombings “obliterated” Iran’s ability to enrich uranium, but nuclear material that could go into a bomb remains in Iran. Trump said Tuesday that material may have been moved to Pickaxe Mountain.

The president has shied away from the idea of sending troops in to retrieve the uranium, saying the facilities are under close surveillance and within reach of American bombers.

Trump previewed possible strikes on the facility, saying, “We follow the material; that’s where the action is, and we’ll be hitting that area probably pretty soon, and there’s not a thing they can do about it. Normally I wouldn’t say that. If I thought they could do something about it, I would never say that. But we’ll be hitting that area pretty soon and very heavily.”

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