ReutersU.S. President Donald Trump is considering whether to join Israel’s strike on Iran’s nuclear sites as the conflict lasted for the sixth day and there was growing anger among the parties.
According to five sources speaking with the BBC’s U.S. partner CBS News, the U.S. strike could involve attacking Fordo’s underground nuclear site with high-level weapons.
The president met with his national security team on Tuesday to discuss what to do next.
Israel and Iran have conducted deadly strikes since Friday. Analysts say Trump’s comments show that he is willing to join Israelis despite his earlier call for downgrade and its voice support for diplomatic solutions to limit Iran’s nuclear research.
He showed that people were on the lack of progress to obtain a new deal that aimed at preventing Iran from building nuclear weapons. Trump’s previous agreement with Iran during his first term was withdrawn.
In a social media post on Tuesday, Trump threatened Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei and said the United States knew where he was.
“He is an easy target, but it’s safe there,” Trump wrote. “At least don’t take him out (kill!). But we don’t want missiles fired at civilians or American soldiers. Our patience is worn.”
Another Trump article simply read: “Unconditional surrender!”
On Wednesday, the Iranian supreme leader responded directly to the comments and said the country would never surrender.
“Any form of U.S. military intervention will undoubtedly be irreparable from irreparable injuries,” Khamenei said.
He added: “The wise people know Iran, whose people and their history have never spoken to this country in a threatening language, because Iranians are not those who surrender.”
The United States insists that Iran must abolish its uranium enrichment to prevent the country from developing nuclear weapons – although Iran insists that its nuclear activities are completely peaceful.
Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal between Iran and five other world powers in 2018. Back in office, he sent negotiators to try to reach a new agreement with the Middle East countries without a breakthrough.
Trump seems to have cooled down on traditional diplomacy in recent days. On Tuesday, he returned to the U.S. from Canada’s G7 summit, he said he was “not in a big mood to negotiate with Iran”.
Professor Amnon Aran, an expert in foreign policy at Israel, told BBC Radio 5 Live that Trump’s frustrated language showed that he was crossing the threshold of “it’s hard to come back from it.”
He added that “we are definitely the closest we are” since the conflict began, we have entered the United States.
Other experts suggest Trump may be forced to take action. Michael Oren, former Israeli ambassador to the United States, speculated that the president would feel he had no choice but to intervene in Iran’s attack on U.S. ships or bases.
But the attack could also be an Iranian strategy, prompting Trump to force Israel to force Israel to negotiate an end to the fight.
Trump himself told reporters when he returned from G7 that his goal was “the ending, the real purpose, not the ceasefire.” His comments came hours after the statement made by other leaders of the Western Union that demanded a downgrade in the Middle East.
Trump left the summit early to deal with the crisis in Washington, and then a series of remarks made it unclear to observers which method he might choose.
A message urging Iranians to evacuate Tehran, also sparking a series of speculations. and the anxiety of the Iranian capital itself.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth earlier announced “deployment of other capabilities” to the Middle East to enhance the Pentagon’s “defensive posture”, although U.S. officials at the time denied that they were joining military operations.
At least 30 U.S. military aircraft have moved from U.S. bases to Europe in the past three days, and BBC Verifie has reviewed flight tracking data.
It is unclear whether the U.S. movement is directly related to the Israel-Iran conflict, but one expert said the flights of tanker planes were “very unusual”.
Another expert said the movements could be part of a broader policy aimed at influencing Iran’s concessions.
According to CBS, signing the Israeli military operation did not reach the full agreement of Trump’s closest adviser. But the objection has not been made public.
Trump’s supporter base also has a wide view. Republicans are running for re-election because he will dispel U.S. conflicts with overseas, and he has previously criticized U.S. intervention in the Middle East.
Regarding Iran’s ability to build nuclear weapons, Trump and his national intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard’s assessment appears to be different.
Asked Tuesday about Gabbard’s earlier advice that he didn’t work on a nuclear warhead: “I don’t care what she said. I think they’re very close to having it.”
Trump and Gabubad advisers later denied that the couple disagreed on the issue.
From Tuesday to Wednesday, Israel has not died in Iranian missile strikes.
Overnight, more than 50 Israeli fighter jets operated in Iran, strikes on Iran’s centrifugal facilities, missile production facilities near Tehran, and universities related to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Israel is the main US partner in the Middle East, and the international condemnation of Israel’s military operations in Gaza after Trump attacked Hamas on October 7, 2023, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to support Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
