President Trump acknowledged a significant risk of Israel attacking Iran, although he stated his preference against such action while diplomatic solutions were still being pursued. He expressed uncertainty about the attack's effect on negotiations, suggesting it could either hinder or potentially aid diplomatic efforts.
The White House's signals regarding the potential attack were mixed. While Trump publicly indicated a possibility of an attack happening soon, simultaneously he announced a meeting between a US envoy and Iran's foreign minister to pursue negotiations.
Reports suggested Israel was preparing for a possible strike, prompting increased scrutiny by American and European intelligence officials. Despite urging Netanyahu to refrain from any military action, Trump remained unclear about whether he had explicitly authorized or disallowed an attack during their recent conversation.
Trump's statements left intelligence officials searching for evidence of Israeli military preparations. His remarks highlighted the precarious balance between diplomacy and the threat of military action, leaving the situation uncertain and dependent on the success of ongoing negotiations.
President Trump acknowledged on Thursday that there was a significant risk that Israel could soon attack Iran, but he said that “I don’t want them going in” while some progress was still possible on an agreement to shut down Iran’s easiest pathway to building a nuclear weapon.
Mr. Trump said that an attack was likely to destroy the chances for a diplomatic solution. “I think it would blow it,” he said, before arguing the other side of the equation, saying it “might help it actually, but it also could blow it.”
His statement came just hours after the administration announced that Steve Witkoff, Mr. Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, planned to meet the Iranian foreign minister in Oman on Sunday for another negotiating session.
The somewhat contradictory signals from the White House came amid growing signs that Israel was preparing for a strike of unknown proportions against Iranian sites. Mr. Trump refused to give details of a conversation he held on Monday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, or to say whether, in that conversation, he had offered any kind of go-ahead to the Israeli leader to proceed with a strike. In recent weeks, Mr. Trump has said that he has urged Mr. Netanyahu to hold off on any military action while negotiations were underway.
Nonetheless, when asked on Thursday if an attack could happen very soon, he said: “I don’t want to say imminent, but it looks like it’s something that could very well happen.” Several hours later, in a social media post, he wrote that the administration was “committed to a Diplomatic Resolution of the Iran Nuclear issue.”
Mr. Trump’s statements left American and European intelligence officials searching for any signs that Israel was getting ready, including evidence that it was massing the aircraft and missiles that would be needed for any sustained assault on Iran’s remaining air defenses, its missile stores and its nuclear sites.
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