Trump warns Iran 'don't get cute,' jokes US can read fighters' name tags from space

DALLAS, TEXAS: President Donald Trump punctuated his speech to the Republican midterm convention in Dallas on Wednesday with a mix of levity and a stark warning to Iran.

He told the delegates that America's surveillance is so advanced that it could read the name tags off the uniforms of Iranian fighters from space and then moved on to a more serious note about increased activity at a hardened Iranian mountain base.

Trump warns Iran over Pickaxe Mountain activity

"We can see the tag on their coat, Muhammad El Fayad," Trump told the crowd, drawing laughter as he continued.

"It's never, never, it's never Muhammad Jones, Muhammad. And it says right under his tag, we can read it from space. Can you believe this? Thousands of miles away and we're reading somebody's, we know exactly what's going on."

The light-hearted moment segued into something more pointed as Trump spoke about recent developments concerning Iran's Pickaxe Mountain, a heavily fortified installation near the much-damaged Natanz uranium enrichment facility, where two vast subterranean tunnels have been excavated.

"But we notice there's a little activity at Pickaxe," Trump said.

"I would advise Iran not to get cute, because we will have to hit them very hard. We have no choice, right? We have no choice."

Trump has menaced the site from mid-July onward.

Trump questions Iran's nuclear program

Trump turned to the crowd, addressing the assembled people on the more general subject of Iran's nuclear program, asking, "Does anybody here think that Iran should have a nuclear weapon? Anybody? Who feels Iran should not have a nuclear weapon?"

Iran has consistently denied pursuing nuclear weapons, maintaining its uranium enrichment program is intended for peaceful purposes.

Iran conflict puts pressure on gas prices ahead of midterms

The comments came at a sensitive time for Trump and the Republicans, with oil and gas prices rising in the wake of the US-Israel and Iranian conflict, which erupted in February and is set to become a more prominent issue in the run-up to the November midterm elections.

In addition, the president has warned that the price of oil will not drop before the election.

At the same time, some of his close allies have privately warned that the conflict with Iran will persist for many years after the midterms and possibly for the remaining years of Trump's presidency.

President Trump has consistently attacked Iran with both humor and belligerence, and he has used both tactics frequently during the conflict.