Trump asked for options for attacking Iran last week: NYT

Any attack by the United States against Iran would face a "crushing" response, an Iranian government spokesman has said, following a report that President Donald Trump last week asked for options for attacking Iran's main nuclear site. 

"Any action against the Iranian nation would certainly face a crushing response," Ali Rabiei yesterday said in remarks streamed on an official government website, according to the Reuters news agency.

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On Monday, the New York Times reported that Trump had asked his close aides what "options were available" to take action against Iran's key nuclear site in a meeting last week.

But his advisers warned such a move during his last weeks in office could escalate into a bigger conflict, the Times reported.

The meeting on Thursday took place shortly after inspectors reported a significant increase in Iran's stockpile of nuclear material, the report said, citing four current and former US officials.

"Mr Trump asked his top national security aides what options were available and how to respond," the newspaper reported, citing officials.

The report said the attack would have likely targeted Natanz, the centrepiece of Iran's enrichment programme, which Tehran says is only for peaceful purposes.

Last week, the United Nation's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Iran had stockpiled low-enriched uranium 12 times more than the limit set by a nuclear accord.

The Iranian government began scaling back a number of its JCPOA commitments following Trump's decision to unilaterally withdraw the US from the accord in 2018.

Officials familiar with the matter later said Trump might "still be looking at ways to strike Iranian assets and allies, including militias in Iraq".