Israel is willing to ignore President Trump and proceed with a targeted strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
According to sources who spoke with Reuters Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is willing to disregard Trump’s preference not to strike Iran and instead focus on diplomatic routes for blocking Iran’s nuclear program.
Their report states:
Over the past months, Israel has proposed to the Trump administration a series of options to attack Iran’s facilities, including some with late spring and summer timelines, the sources said.
The plans include a mix of airstrikes and commando operations that vary in severity and could set back Tehran’s ability to weaponize its nuclear program by just months or a year or more, the sources said.
The New York Times reported on Wednesday that Trump told Netanyahu in a White House meeting earlier this month that Washington wanted to prioritize diplomatic talks with Tehran and that he was unwilling to support a strike on the country’s nuclear facilities in the short term.
But Israeli officials now believe that their military could instead launch a limited strike on Iran that would require less U.S. support. Such an attack would be significantly smaller than those Israel initially proposed.
U.S. and Iranian negotiators held a second round of preliminary talks in Rome on Saturday.
Details of the conversations have yet to be publicly released, although it has been reported that Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff met and held talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
On Thursday, Trump said he was not “in a rush” to pursue military action against Iran.
“I think that Iran has a chance to have a great country and to live happily without death,” Trump said. “That’s my first option.
”If there’s a second option, I think it would be very bad for Iran, and I think Iran is wanting to talk.”
Meanwhile, a senior Iranian security official warned that any attack would lead to a “a harsh and unwavering response from Iran.”
“We have intelligence from reliable sources that Israel is planning a major attack on Iran’s nuclear sites,” the official was quoted as saying.
“This stems from dissatisfaction with ongoing diplomatic efforts regarding Iran’s nuclear program, and also from Netanyahu’s need for conflict as a means of political survival.”
