"We're Not Finished": Trump Warns Of Strike On Iran's Pickaxe Mountain Nuclear Site

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday warned that Washington's military campaign against Iran is far from over, saying the next target could be Pickaxe Mountain, which is a heavily fortified underground nuclear site that Western intelligence believes is being used for a secret enrichment project.

Speaking at the White House during a meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, Trump issued one of his strongest warnings yet.

"We'll be hitting that area pretty soon, and very heavily," Trump said. He added that he would not usually reveal military targets in advance, but claimed "there's not a thing they can do about it."

Pickaxe Mountain is located near Natanz and is believed by Western intelligence agencies to house an undeclared nuclear enrichment facility buried deep beneath the ground.

'We're Not Leaving Right Now'

Trump claimed the damage already inflicted on Iran would take decades to repair, insisting the United States had no plans to stop its military operations.

"If we left right now, it would take Iran 20, 25 years to rebuild. Okay, and we're not finished at all...we're not leaving right now," he said.

His remarks came as fighting between the two countries intensified after an interim agreement aimed at ending the conflict collapsed.

Trump Pours Cold Water On Peace Talks

Despite reports of behind-the-scenes communication, Trump dismissed the idea of immediate negotiations with Tehran.

"I will tell you, they want to desperately meet. And until they're ready to meet in a meaningful way, we have no interest in meeting," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

He claimed Iranian officials had privately signalled they wanted talks because "they want to meet desperately to try and end it because they're getting decimated."

Trump Brushes Off Houthi Blockade Threat

Trump also downplayed concerns over a possible disruption to Red Sea shipping by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

"So far, it hasn't happened," he said. "I think that if there is something like that, we'll just have to take care of business."

His comments came after the Houthi-run SABA news agency said six ships changed course on Tuesday after receiving warnings from the group, which had announced a maritime embargo against Saudi Arabia a day earlier.

Even so, Trump insisted tensions with the Houthis had remained relatively calm.

"We've had no problem with the Houthis" recently, he said, adding that "they've had no problem with us for a long period of time, including during this conflict."

Despite the latest fighting, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said diplomatic exchanges with Washington via mediators were ongoing.

Mediator Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called for restraint from all warring sides during a meeting with Iran's Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni on Tuesday.

Sharif urged the sides to "refrain from actions that could further destabilise the region", his office said.