Senior advisers to President Donald Trump would prefer Israel strike Iran before the United States launches an assault on the country, according to two people familiar with ongoing discussions.
The Trump administration officials are privately arguing that an Israeli attack would trigger Iran to retaliate, helping muster support from American voters for a US strike, the sources told Politico.
“There’s thinking in and around the administration that the politics are a lot better if the Israelis go first and alone and the Iranians retaliate against us, and give us more reason to take action,” said one of the people familiar with discussions. Both individuals were granted anonymity to describe private conversations.
Iran and the United States prepared to meet Thursday in Geneva for nuclear negotiations, talks viewed as a last chance for diplomacy as America has gathered a fleet of aircraft and warships to the Middle East to pressure Tehran into a deal.
Trump wants a deal to constrain Iran’s nuclear program, and he sees an opportunity while the country is struggling at home with growing dissent following nationwide protests last month. Iran meanwhile has maintained it wants to continue to enrich uranium even as its program sits in ruins following Trump ordering an attack in June on three of country's nuclear sites.
If an American attack happens, Iran has said all US military bases in the Mideast would be considered legitimate targets, putting at risk tens of thousands of American service members. Iran has also threatened to attack Israel following a bruising 12-day war last year, meaning a regional war again could erupt across the Middle East.
In response to a request for comment, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said, “the media may continue to speculate on the president’s thinking all they want, but only President Trump knows what he may or may not do.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters Wednesday that Iran is “always trying to rebuild elements” of its nuclear program. He said that Tehran is not enriching uranium right now, “but they’re trying to get to the point where they ultimately can.”
US intelligence agencies assess that Iran has yet to restart a weapons program, but has “undertaken activities that better position it to produce a nuclear device, if it chooses to do so.”
The US intelligence community is “concerned and monitoring” potential asymmetric retaliation by Iran on US facilities and personnel in the Middle East and Europe, Politico quoted a senior US intelligence official as saying.
Trump has an array of options for how to hit Tehran. They include an initial, limited strike that could act as leverage to force the regime into a deal the US can accept, according to a US official familiar with the Iran discussions. If no deal is reached, Trump could order a larger set of strikes later, the official said.
