Trump’s spokesperson said that President Trump will decide within two weeks whether to strike Iran, as Israel attacked more Iranian nuclear facilities and warned that its attacks might topple the leadership in Tehran.
White House spokesperson Caroline Levitt said that in his dictated message, Trump stated: “Based on the fact that there is a high possibility of negotiations with Iran in the near future, I will decide within the next two weeks whether to visit Iran.”
Trump is scheduled to attend a National Security Council meeting in the Oval Office on Friday. For several days, he has been publicly considering having the United States increase its stakes and join Israel in attacking Iran. His latest stance indicates that after a series of tough remarks (including demanding that Tehran residents evacuate and leaving the G7 summit in Canada early to return to Washington), Trump has backed off.
After Levitt’s speech, the decline in U.S. stock index futures narrowed, while the stock markets in Japan, China and Australia remained in a narrow range. Brent crude oil prices fell by about 2% in Asian trading on Friday, pulling back from gains earlier in the week.
For years, Trump has tended to set two-week deadlines, sometimes adhering to them, sometimes missing them, or not taking action at all, which made “within two weeks” a common phrase for him to use when handling pending decisions during his two terms in the White House.
Levitt said Trump’s statement was a response to media speculation about the “Iran situation”. She refused to disclose Trump’s timetable, including his view on the possibility of further successful negotiations with Iran.
Trump’s goal – to stop Iran’s uranium enrichment and prevent the country from obtaining nuclear weapons – remains unchanged, but “if there is a diplomatic opportunity, the president will always seize it,” she said.
People familiar with the matter said that senior US officials have been preparing for a possible attack on Iran, with some even mentioning a potential strike plan for the weekend. One person familiar with the matter said that top leaders of some federal agencies have begun preparations for the attack.
On Thursday, a missile from Iran hit an Israeli hospital, the first such incident since the war broke out, highlighting the risks faced by civilians on both sides. The Israeli Ministry of Health reported minor injuries at Soroka Medical Center in the south of the country and said the missile landed in an evacuated department.
Israel said that Iran used a missile whose warhead broke up into dozens of submunitions, spreading over a wide area and then exploding on the ground. According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, Iran unveiled a fragmentation warhead missile in 2017.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier on Thursday that although Israel’s military objective remains to destroy Iran’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile capabilities, “we may create conditions” to help change the government.
When asked if this meant Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader, Netanyahu said, “No one is immune.”
Netanyahu later told Israel’s Kan TV that Israel had hit more than half of Iran’s missile launchers. “It doesn’t matter how many missiles they have,” he said. “What matters is how many launchers they have.”
Israeli warplanes launched a night-time attack on dozens of military targets in Iran, including a decommissioned nuclear reactor in the Arak region. Arak has long been a focus of international concern as it could play a significant role in the production of plutonium. If the reprocessing capability for plutonium is developed, it could be used in the future to produce nuclear weapons.
European governments have called for a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear issue. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has urged Trump to open the door to restarting negotiations on the Iranian nuclear program.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and U.S. Special Envoy Steve Vickers met with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy at the White House on Thursday. Lammy plans to hold talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Geneva on Friday along with the foreign ministers of France and Germany.
“The situation in the Middle East remains dangerous,” Lamy said in a statement. “There is an opportunity for a diplomatic solution in the next two weeks.”
According to the Italian Foreign Ministry in Rome, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani held separate phone calls with Rubio and Alaraghi on Thursday. Anwar Gargash, the foreign affairs advisor to the President of the United Arab Emirates, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, called for an end to hostilities and a resumption of dialogue.
Alaqchi said on Wednesday that Iran remains “committed to diplomacy” and has never sought and will never seek nuclear weapons. Khamenei said on the same day that he would not surrender.
