Trump Sets Two-Week Deadline To Weigh U.S. Involvement In Iran Strikes
Iran has a maximum of two weeks before the U.S. decides whether to join Israel’s campaign to destroy the country’s nuclear facilities, President Trump said Friday after meeting with his national security team.
“I’m giving them a period of time, and I would say two weeks would be the maximum,” he said.
It comes as the administration has said it sees a “chance for substantial negotiations” with Iran over its nuclear program, which the two countries were scheduled to continue discussing last Sunday, before Israel began a surprise operation that took out Iran's top military officials and nuclear scientists last Friday.
WHY TWO WEEKS?
Besides Trump liking that deadline (see video above), the president is hoping to leave room for a diplomatic solution — namely, that Iranian leaders will relent on their hardline positions regarding the country’s nuclear program, now that it has been weakened by Israeli attacks — in order to avoid further destabilizing the region.
The Libya example: Trump has reportedly expressed fear that escalation could lead to regime change in Iran, which could spark nationwide instability like that seen in Libya in the 2010s.
In 2011, a U.S.-backed intervention ousted Libya's leader Muammar Gaddafi. Since then, Libya has become increasingly unstable, and the U.S.'s negotiating power has been strained due to decentralized power in the country.
Trump also wants to ensure that an operation in Iran doesn’t entangle the U.S. in a drawn-out war in the Middle East, nearly four years after the U.S. withdrew troops from Afghanistan.
THE ROOM WHERE IT HAPPENS
Notably missing from discussions on U.S. involvement are Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, though the administration has denied they've been sidelined.
On Friday, Trump claimed Iran is weeks to months away from obtaining a nuclear weapon — contradicting Gabbard’s March Congressional testimony that Iran had not resumed its nuclear weapons program.
“She’s wrong,” Trump said.
That puts Gabbard in a tough position. In recent weeks, her relationship with Trump has reportedly weakened following her June 10 social media post warning of escalating tensions between nuclear powers.
Trump is said to be relying more heavily on a group composed of Vice President JD Vance, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and CIA Director John Ratcliffe.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi — who reportedly is still in communication with U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff — met with European leaders in Switzerland on Friday, but the talks reportedly ended without any breakthrough. Before the meeting, Araghchi said Tehran would not negotiate with any country while under Israeli fire.
