The White House said U.S. President Donald Trump will decide in the next two weeks whether the United States is directly involved in the Iran-Israel conflict.
At a White House press conference, press secretary Karoline Leavitt sent a message directly to Trump:
“Based on the fact that there is a high possibility of negotiations with Iran in the near future, I will decide whether to proceed within the next two weeks.”
Earlier, Iran’s deputy foreign minister told the BBC that if the United States participates, it will cause “hell” in the region, adding: “This is not a war for the United States.”
The news comes 24 hours after Trump said he was not determined to join the conflict.
When asked what the message is about “everyday Trump supporters” who are concerned about our participation, Levitt said about “trust in President Trump.”
She added that the president’s “first task” is to ensure Iran cannot successfully build nuclear weapons.
So far, the press secretary has repeatedly refused to discuss “hypothesis”, including on whether Iranian officials can come to the White House or whether Trump will seek Congressional approval of any U.S. involvement.
Trump and his administration are trying to maintain a climate of strategic ambiguity – no public reveal of their thinking or potential course of action.
“I might do that,” he told reporters Wednesday. “I probably don’t.”
The government insists that Iran “never approached successful construction of nuclear weapons.
Trump dismissed an intelligence assessment – including the assessment given by the National Intelligence Director of Congress by Tulsi Gabbard earlier this year – Iran does not intend to do so.
Trump’s intentions were raised on Wednesday after Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei rejected his request for surrender.
CBS, a U.S. partner at BBC, reports Trump approves plans to attack Iranbut no final decision has been made on whether to continue.
An intelligence source said the U.S. president insists that Iran agrees to abandon its nuclear program.
On Thursday, Trump responded to truth socialization, saying the Wall Street Journal was there for the first time, “I don’t know what I think about Iran.” He did not resolve whether the plan was approved.
The president is reportedly considering strikes on Iran’s nuclear ruins Fordo, underground uranium enrichment facility.
Iran insists that Faudo is only used for civilian purposes.
The location of the site is hidden on the hillside, making it impossible to reach Israel’s weapons. Only the United States is considered to have bombs large enough to destroy Fordo.
Diplomatic efforts are underway as the conflict continues, with European foreign ministers meeting in Switzerland on Friday.
Levitt said the exchanges between the U.S. negotiators and the Iranians are continuing.
Reuters reported earlier that since Israel began its strike against Iran last week, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi spoke several times on the phone to find the diplomatic end of the crisis.
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh told the BBC that he hopes to make diplomacy the “first choice” but that “we can’t start any negotiations” despite the bombing.
He said our participation would be “hell of the whole region” which would turn conflict into “quagmire”, continue invasion and delay the end of “brutal atrocities.”
Hatibzad added that this is not a “war in the United States” and that if Trump does participate, he will always be remembered as “the president of the war that he does not belong to.”
Trump’s two-week deadline comes after a hospital in southern Israel was attacked in an Iranian missile strike Thursday morning.
Iranian state media reported that the strike targeted the military site next to the hospital, not the facility itself.
Israel’s Ministry of Health said 71 people were injured in the attack at Soroka Medical Center.
Israel said at least 24 people have been killed in the country since the beginning of the conflict. Iranian state media last updated the death toll on Sunday, June 15, when 224 people were killed.
Human rights activist (HRANA), a human rights activist who has long tracked Iran, said 639 people have been killed in Iran since Friday.
Israeli troops continued to strike on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure on Thursday, saying it attacked Arak’s “inactive nuclear reactor” in the overnight attack, which also targeted Natanz’s uranium enrichment facility again.
