President Trump has bought more time to make a decision on U.S. military intervention in Iran, capping off a whirlwind week that saw his administration approach the brink of direct action before hitting pause.
"Based on the fact that there's a substantial chance of negotiation that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go in the next two weeks," Trump said in a statement Thursday read aloud by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Trump's decision puts on hold any immediate move by the Pentagon to directly engage in strikes or other actions targeting Iran and its nuclear program, something the president has openly mulled this week amid escalating tensions between Israel and its biggest regional rival.
The updated timetable would put Trump's self-imposed deadline for potential strikes on the eve of Independence Day weekend.
In the week since Israel launched a barrage of missiles into Iran — targeting Tehran's nuclear infrastructure and high-ranking generals — the world has been holding its breath as Trump weighs whether to directly involve the U.S. in the conflict.
Iran's main nuclear enrichment facility, Fordow, is located in a mountain bunker only U.S. missiles could penetrate.
Trump has been briefed on both the risks and the benefits of bombing Fordow, and he believes that disabling it is necessary because of the risk of weapons being produced in a relatively short period of time, CBS News reports.
▪ The New York Times: Forced to wait for Trump, Israel faces a strategic dilemma in Iran.
▪ NBC News: U.S. intelligence says Iran has a large stockpile of enriched uranium but isn't close to creating a weapon.
▪ ABC News: What do we know about Iran's nuclear program amid different assessments?
Leavitt sidestepped a question Thursday over potential U.S. involvement in a regime change in Iran. When pressed on how close the president thinks Iran is to completing the production of a nuclear weapon, Leavitt said that at this point, it's up to the Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to decide to move ahead with final stages.
"Iran has all that it needs to achieve a nuclear weapon. All they need is a decision from the supreme leader to do that," she said. "And it would take a couple of weeks to complete production of that weapon."
Some military experts estimate Israel and Iran have sufficient remaining munitions to continue pounding each other for a few more weeks. Iran is weaker on the missile ledger.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has repeatedly spoken with Trump since Israel began attacking Iran, pushed Trump to support Israeli strikes over the course of a series of meetings, Time magazine reports.
The president initially said the U.S. would not involve itself in the conflict while reiterating he could not allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon. Trump, who in his first term withdrew from the Obama-era nuclear agreement with Iran, had been pressing for talks to hammer out a new agreement in his second term.
Those negotiations have been on ice for weeks, but European foreign ministers are slated to meet with Iranian officials in Switzerland today to press them to de-escalate and to offer a rollback of Iran's nuclear activities. White House officials are watching those talks with interest as Trump suggests that he would wait to let discussions unfold. But Iran's foreign minister said his country is not seeking negotiations with anyone as long as Israel continues its strikes.
Next week's NATO summit at The Hague will offer another opportunity to glean what the president is thinking about any negotiations with Tehran.
▪ The Economist: The Europeans plan to keep the NATO summit short and snappy.
▪ CNN: In a veiled message to Trump, the Chinese and Russian leaders present a united front over the Israel-Iran crisis.
▪ CBS News: The Trump administration is boosting monitoring of possible Iran-backed cells in the U.S.
The conflict in the Middle East is also dividing Trump's MAGA base, with some of the president's key supporters urging him not to get the country involved in a new Middle Eastern war. The anti-interventionist arm of the Republican Party — alongside Democrats — is watching with alarm as Trump has moved from solely seeking a diplomatic solution with Iran to considering engaging in direct strikes.
Former Trump adviser and conservative firebrand Steve Bannon told the Christian Science Monitor at a breakfast event on Wednesday that Israel can finish its task in Iran without roping in the U.S. military.
"My mantra right now, the Israelis have to finish what they started," Bannon said. "They started this, they should finish it. They have air superiority."
Other Trump supporters want the president to take direct action.
Robert O'Brien, Trump's former national security adviser in his first term, said on social platform that the president is "delivering a master class on how to conduct an America First foreign policy" and "has gracefully given an enemy multiple chances to avoid war."
During Thursday's briefing, Leavitt sought to reassure "everyday Trump supporters" who have concerns about U.S. involvement.
"Trust in President Trump," she said.
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