US President Donald Trump said Thursday he would soon decide whether to intensify strikes on Iran, as regional mediators pursued a proposal aimed at restarting nuclear talks.
“Now we will make a decision,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office after meeting with his national security advisers, according to Axios.
“Do we want to go further” with strikes to ensure Iran’s nuclear programme “will never happen again?” he asked. “I would rather not destroy the rest of the country if possible, but maybe I will have to. You’ll know soon enough.”
Two US officials said the meeting, held as part of Trump’s weekly intelligence briefing, was the first on Iran since the midterm elections. Trump is weighing further strikes, continued economic pressure or a deal involving concessions to Tehran.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held calls Thursday with regional mediators from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Egypt.
Qatari mediators were discussing a draft proposal with Iran and the White House that would see both sides take confidence-building steps over two days, according to regional sources.
Under the proposal, the United States would lift its naval blockade and release some frozen Iranian funds on the first day. Iran would invite International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to visit bombed nuclear sites, based on an agreement reached in Cairo a year ago, the sources said.
The Strait of Hormuz would reopen on the second day, followed by nuclear talks focused on Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium.
Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and a key figure in indirect negotiations with Washington, also met Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin on Thursday.
Anonymous Pentagon officials and military commanders told The New York Timesthousands of American air and naval personnel stationed aboard more than a dozen ships and at bases across the region and in the US would take part in the operation.
The New York Times previously reported that US and Israeli military officials had drawn up joint plans to strike Iran’s energy infrastructure, nuclear facilities, and missile and drone arsenal.
