Trump says Washington can deal with two sites in Iran within 10 minutes
Key Facts
U.S. President Donald Trump said the United States still had to “deal with” one or two sites in Iran and could do so within 10 minutes, in remarks to reporters at a Halloween party at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach on October 31, 2026. The Times of Israel quoted him as saying: “We still have to deal with one or two sites, as I say, but we can do that within 10 minutes.” Trump did not specify in the quote what action he meant, and did not explicitly say he would destroy all remaining nuclear sites. The remarks came as he described negotiations with Iran as going well while questioning Tehran’s reliability. The wording places the military threat alongside a signal that the negotiating track remains open.
Trump named Mount Pickaxe, saying: “You can probably look at Mount Pickaxe, and you have to deal with that.” The Times of Israel report did not say the United States had struck the site; it said Washington had not targeted it up to that point. The site, which is under construction near the Natanz uranium enrichment facility, remains of unclear purpose. The Associated Press said the International Atomic Energy Agency had been unable to access it, while Iran denied that nuclear activity was taking place there. It therefore remains a possible nuclear site, not a confirmed nuclear facility.
Mount Pickaxe lies on the south side of the Natanz facility, which the United States bombed during Operation Midnight Hammer in the 2025 Iran-Israel war, according to the Associated Press. Expert views cited by the agency in 2023 estimated that a possible facility there could extend to a depth of between 80 and 100 meters, with excavation continuing after that estimate. Experts say the scale of the construction project could allow uranium enrichment and centrifuge manufacturing underground. But the report said it was uncertain whether centrifuges were already at the site. The uncertainty leaves assessments of the facility’s nature and capabilities in the realm of possibility.
The Associated Press discussed the capability of the weapon used to target buried facilities, noting that the U.S. GBU-57 bomb can penetrate at least 60 meters of earth before exploding, according to a report it published in July 2026. But the agency said it was unclear whether using two bombs in succession would destroy a facility at the estimated depth of Mount Pickaxe. This follows earlier U.S. warnings about the site: Reuters reported on September 9, 2026, that Pickaxe is near the fortified Natanz facility and contains two deep tunnel complexes. Trump said at the time that he had detected activity there and warned Iran against doing anything that could prompt a strike. Reuters also reported that the United States and Israel began military strikes on Iran in February 2026, partly over concerns about its nuclear program, while Tehran maintains that its nuclear activities are peaceful.
On the status of nuclear facilities and material, International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi said the agency had detected no repair or reconstruction activity since June 2025 at facilities damaged in military attacks during 2025 and 2026. He added that the agency had been unable to verify the status of Iran’s stockpile of uranium close to weapons-grade since the United States bombed its nuclear sites the previous year. The Associated Press attributed to the agency an estimate that the stockpile stood at 440.9 kilograms of uranium enriched to up to 60%. The report compared that with 90%, which it described as requiring a short technical step to reach. The stockpile’s status remains unverifiable by the agency since the bombing in question.
On the diplomatic track, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said a new proposal reached with mediators could reduce to two days the time needed to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and that Iranian diplomats were in Qatar for talks. He said Tehran was not planning to meet U.S. officials, but described Washington’s efforts toward a “broader dialogue” as a positive step. Araghchi tied a decision on direct or indirect negotiations to U.S. acceptance of Iran’s terms. The available coverage gives no specific date for a new round of negotiations or a subsequent review. EL7 data provided also include no prices linked to the remarks or immediate reading of market moves.