Trump Sends Mixed Signals On Iran Nuclear Deal As Israel Reportedly Prepares To Strike
President Trump said Thursday the U.S. is “fairly close” to reaching a nuclear agreement with Iran amid reports Israel is preparing to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities if the nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran fail.
“As long as I think there is an agreement, I don’t want them going in because it might blow it,” Trump told reporters at the White House, referring to reports Israel might strike Iran.
In late May, he publicly acknowledged urging Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold off on striking Iran amid ongoing negotiations.
His comments comes as U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Iran’s foreign minister are scheduled to meet Sunday in Oman for their sixth round of nuclear talks.
WHAT WILL ISRAEL DO?
Dr. Richard Haass, President Emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations, told CNBC that he does not believe Israel would launch a military strike against Iran without U.S. consent.
“They (Iran) can’t have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said Thursday, adding that he would “prefer the more friendly path” to getting Iran to disarm.
Haass said preparations for military action could be adding pressure on Iran during negotiations, but warned that a key sticking point to a deal remains: whether the U.S. will allow Iran any uranium enrichment capacity.
WHERE THINGS STAND
Just his week, Trump told the New York Post that he is “less confident now than I would have been a couple of months ago” regarding a potential Iran deal. Despite sounding more optimistic about a deal Thursday, he also said, “There’s a chance of massive conflict” in the region.
Tensions in the Middle East are rising, with the U.S. on Wednesday evacuating nonessential personnel from its embassy in Baghdad and ordering the departure of military families from bases in the Gulf due to growing security threats.
Tehran recently threatened to launch missiles against U.S. bases in the region in the event their nuclear facilities are attacked.
Level setting: The U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, on Thursday declared that Iran was not complying with its nuclear nonproliferation obligations – the first time the organization has censured the country in 20 years.
Analysts believe Iran is close to being able to manufacture enough nuclear material to fuel 10 nuclear weapons. U.S. officials believed the country is months away from having the capacity to build a bomb.
