Window for diplomacy with Iran may be closing as Trump again threatens Pickaxe Mountain
US President Donald Trump said last week that “productive discussions” were taking place and that the US would not attack Iran before the midterm congressional elections on November 3. On Thursday he again threatened to attack Pickaxe Mountain, described as the location of a centrifuge assembly plant that may also be used for uranium enrichment. He did not dispute reports that he would consider using the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb in a subsequent attack, while ruling out ground troops.
Why it matters: The renewed threat bears on the briefing's diplomacy theme by narrowing the stated window for a nuclear deal with Iran.