West Asia crisis: Israel should strike Iran's nuclear facilities, says Trump

Former United States (US) president and current Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said on Friday (Oct 4) that he believed that Israel shouldstrike Iran's nuclear facilities in response to the Islamic Republic's recent missile barrage.

Speaking at a campaign event in North Carolina, Trump referred to a question posed to President Joe Biden this week about the possibility of Israel targeting Iran's nuclear program.

"They asked him, what do you think about Iran, would you hit Iran? And he goes, 'As long as they don't hit the nuclear stuff.' That's the thing you want to hit, right?" Trump said.

'The answer is no'

On Wednesday, Biden was askedwhether he would support strikes against Iranian nuclear sites and the US president told reporters: "The answer is no." Two days later, Trump highlighted at his campaign event that nuclear weapons were the biggest risk.

"They asked him (President Biden) What do you think about, what do you think about Iran? Would you hit Iran? And he goes, 'As long as they don't hit the nuclear stuff.' That's the thing you want to hit, right? I said I think he's got that one wrong. Isn't that what you're supposed to hit? I mean, it's the biggest risk we have, nuclear weapons, the power of nuclear weapons, the power of weaponry," Trump said.

"You know, I rebuilt the entire military jets, everything I built it including nuclear and I hated to build a nuclear but I got to know firsthand the power of that stuff. And I'll tell you what, we have to be totally prepared. We have to be absolutely prepared," he added.

Trump has spoken little about the recent escalation in tensions in West Asiasince the Israel-Hamas war broke out on October 7 last year.

Earlier this week, Trump issued a scathing statement,holding Biden and Vice President and current Democratic candidate Kamala Harris responsible for the crisis.

Democrats suspect Israeli PM of trying to interfere in US politics

Meanwhile, leaders of the Democratic PartysuspectIsraeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu is tryingto interfere in US politics by ignoring President Biden's calls to negotiate a peace deal in the Gaza Stripand by confronting Hezbollah and Iran weeks before the American presidential election on November 5.

Also watch |How Israel could respond and what Iran might do next

Speaking to CNN earlier this week, Senator Chris Murphy said, "I certainly worry that Prime Minister Netanyahu is watching the American election as he makes decisions about his military campaigns in the north and in Gaza."

“I hope this is not true but it is certainly a possibility that the Israeli government is not going to sign any diplomatic agreement prior to the American election as a means, potentially, to try to influence the result,” Murphy said, alluding to divisions among Democrats over the war.

(With inputs from agencies)