Iran vows a 'crushing' response to any US attack after Trump was 'talked out of' launching an airstrike on Tehran's nuclear plant over new report accusing regime of hiding 'weapons programme'
- An Iranian government spokesman said any US action against Iran 'would certainly face a crushing response'
- It came after US officials said Donald Trump had asked about ways to punish Iran for its nuclear build-up
- They said Trump was talked out of a missile strike but may look at other options to take action against Iran
- The Oval Office meeting came after a watchdog report said Iran had expanded its enriched uranium stocks
- Joe Biden, who is due to take office on Jan 20, wants to revive the Iran nuclear deal that Trump abandoned
Iran warned today it would retaliate with 'crushing' force against the US if Donald Trump ordered a strike against the country's nuclear facilities, after reports that he was considering it in the final weeks of his presidency.
Ali Rabiei, an Iranian government spokesman, warned that 'any action against the Iranian nation would certainly face a crushing response' after US officials told the New York Times that Trump had asked about ways to punish Iran for its nuclear build-up.
The Pentagon's strike plans against Iran are thought to include missile attacks, cyber-warfare, and pre-emptive action by Israel, which has previously carried out a series of operations against Iran.
While Trump's advisers talked him out of a military strike, he might still look at other ways to hit Iran, officials said - weeks before he is due to hand power to Joe Biden who wants to re-enter the 2015 nuclear pact that Trump abandoned two years ago.
Trump's Oval Office meeting came a day after inspectors said Iran had increased its stockpile of nuclear material and given unconvincing explanations for uranium particles that were found at another site.

Donald Trump reportedly asked advisers for a list of options on how to take action against Iran, which could include a missile strike, a cyber-attack or an operation involving Israel. But Iran warned today that any US action would be met with a 'crushing' response. Tehran previously fired missiles at US bases in Iraq in retaliation for the killing of general Qassem Soleimani in January, and Iran is also suspected of being behind cyber-attacks and mysterious explosions on Persian Gulf shipping Trump asked his top national security aides including vice president Mike Pence, secretary of state Mike Pompeo, acting defense secretary Christopher C. Miller and joint chiefs chairman Mark Milley about the potential strike, sources said.
Miller is holding the top Pentagon job after Trump fired previous defense secretary Mark Esper last Monday.
Trump's advisers ultimately dissuaded him from launching a strike by warning that such action could trigger a wider conflict with Iran, the officials said.
A source confirmed the account of the meeting to Reuters, saying: 'He asked for options. They gave him the scenarios and he ultimately decided not to go forward.'
Any missile strike or cyber-attack would likely have targeted Iran's main nuclear enrichment facility, Natanz, which Tehran insists is meant for peaceful purposes.
Most of the complex is underground and it is subject to monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) under the nuclear accord.
In its latest report, the IAEA said Iran's uranium stockpile is now 12 times larger than the limit set under the Obama-era pact which Trump abandoned in 2018.
The agency said that as of November 2 Iran had a stockpile of around 2,440kg of low-enriched uranium, up from 2,100kg on August 25.
The limit under the deal signed with Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia is just over 200kg.
The IAEA also reported that Iran has also been continuing to enrich uranium to a purity of up to 4.5 per cent, higher than the 3.67 per cent allowed under the deal.
The UN watchdog said that Iran had barred its inspectors from accessing another site where there was evidence of past nuclear activity.
While Trump decided against a missile strike, he may still be looking into ways to strike Iranian assets and allies, including militias in Iraq, it is believed.
The US accuses Iran of backing terrorists in Gaza, Syria and Iraq, including a group who attacked the US embassy in Baghdad last December.
Days later, Trump ordered the drone strike that killed Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, sparking several alarming days of high tensions and a barrage of Iranian missile strikes on US bases in Iraq.
The crisis eventually eased after clumsy Revolutionary Guards shot down a passenger plane with dozens of Iranians on board, turning the public mood against the regime.
Trump's policy of 'maximum pressure' has also seen the US military carry out cyber-attacks against Iran, which in turn has been linked to cyber-attacks on power stations and utilities in Israel.
The US was also behind an Israeli operation in Iran which killed al-Qaeda's deputy leader Abdullah Ahmad Abdullah, according to a separate report last week.
Abdullah, who went by the nom-de-guerre Abu Muhammad al-Masri, was secretly shot and killed in Tehran by Israeli operatives on a motorcycle at Washington's behest, it is believed.
The operation is said to have taken place on August 7 on the anniversary of the 1998 US embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya, which were carried out by al-Qaeda.
Iran denied the report of Abdullah's killing, claiming on Saturday that it was 'made-up information' and blaming US policies for the emergence of al-Qaeda.
But Washington has previously accused Iran of harboring members of the terror group behind 9/11 and allowing them to pass through its territory.

The meeting took place a day after international inspectors informed UN members that Iran had significantly increased its stockpile of nuclear material at its Natanz facility (pictured)
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