President Donald Trump is considering a broader military assault on Iran in the coming months if diplomacy or an initial targeted U.S. strike fails to persuade Tehran to abandon its nuclear program, according to a Feb. 22 New York Times report.
Citing people familiar with internal administration discussions, the Times reported that Trump has told advisers he would consider a larger assault aimed at toppling Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei if early U.S. steps do not move the country to meet Trump’s demands. In January, Trump had threatened to step in with military action on behalf of Iran’s anti-regime protestors.
U.S. and Iranian negotiators are scheduled to meet in Geneva Feb. 26 in what the Times described as a last-ditch effort to avoid military conflict.
The Trump administration has not made any final decisions on whether it will strike Iran, but advisors told the outlet that Trump has been leaning toward an initial strike in the coming days to signal to Iranian leaders that they must permanently forgo the ability to produce a nuclear weapon. The administration has reportedly identified several potential targets, including the headquarters of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the country’s nuclear sites, and elements of its ballistic missile program.
Military officials have also raised concerns about the strain a prolonged conflict with Iran could place on U.S. readiness, including pressure on Navy ships, Patriot missile defenses, and transport and surveillance aircraft, the Times reported.
According to Axios, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine has advised Trump and other senior officials that a military campaign against Iran could carry significant risks, including a prolonged U.S. entanglement in the region. But in a Feb. 23 Truth Social post, Trump criticized “Numerous stories from the Fake News Media,” which he said have circulated the idea that Caine is “against us going to War with Iran.”
“General Caine, like all of us, would like not to see War but, if a decision is made on going against Iran at a Military level, it is his opinion that it will be something easily won,” Trump added.
The Times report also said that both Iranian and U.S. officials are considering a possible compromise that would allow Iran to produce small amounts of nuclear fuel strictly for medical research. But it is unclear whether either side plans to accept such a compromise.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Feb. 22 on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that the Iranian regime is not prepared to relinquish its “right” to nuclear enrichment, but he maintained that a “nuclear deal is possible.”
If U.S. officials “want to find a resolution for Iran’s peaceful nuclear program, the only way is diplomacy,” Araghchi said. “And we have proved this in the past, and I believe that still, there is a good chance to have a diplomatic solution which is based on a win-win game, and a solution is at our reach. So there is no need for any military buildup. And military buildup cannot help it, and cannot pressurize us.”
Trump has also maintained that he’d prefer a diplomatic deal but warned that Iranian leaders must act soon. Trump reiterated in his Feb. 23 post that he “would rather have a Deal than not but, if we don’t make a Deal, it will be a very bad day for that Country and, very sadly, its people, because they are great and wonderful, and something like this should never have happened to them.”
“I am the one who makes the decision,” he added.
The U.S. has in recent weeks built up its military presence near Iran, deploying two aircraft carrier groups, roughly a dozen warships, hundreds of fighter jets, and multiple air defense systems to the Persian Gulf, as Zeale News previously reported. Israeli officials also suggested Feb. 18 that a confrontation could be imminent.
The Times noted that recent comments made by Mike Huckabee, U.S. ambassador to Israel, about Israel having a legitimate claim to much of the land in the Middle East are “further complicating any final decision on military strikes” by outraging countries that the U.S. “is hoping will support or at least not openly oppose” a U.S. attack on Iran.
As Zeale News previously reported, numerous Arab leaders issued a statement expressing “strong condemnation and profound concern” over Huckabee’s remarks. They warned that the continuation of Israel’s “expansionist policies and unlawful measures” would “inflame violence and conflict in the region and undermine the prospects for peace."