US President Donald Trump recently rejected an Israeli proposal for a joint attack on Iran, according to a report by the New York Times (NYT) on 16 April.
“Israel had planned to strike Iranian nuclear sites as soon as next month but was waved off by President Trump in recent weeks in favor of negotiating a deal with Tehran to limit its nuclear program,” anonymous US officials and other informed sources told the NYT.
Trump had spent months deliberating internally over whether to pursue negotiations or to join Israel in an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities, according to the report.
Officials were divided on the matter, as some were skeptical that an attack would be able to fully curtail the Iranian nuclear program and also avoid a larger escalation.
“Israeli officials had recently developed plans to attack Iranian nuclear sites in May. They were prepared to carry them out, and at times were optimistic that the US would sign off,” the report added.
All of the Israeli plans required US assistance to ensure a successful attack on Iran and help defend against any retaliation by the Islamic Republic.
Trump informed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this month that he has chosen not to support a military campaign against Iran.
One of the plans involved Israeli commandos carrying out a ground operation against the Iranian facilities with backing from US fighter jets. Yet this particular plan would have had to wait until October, the NYT revealed. “Israeli officials began shifting to a proposal for an extended bombing campaign that would have also required American assistance,” the sources said.
Some US officials were more open to the idea than others. US CENTCOM chief Michael Kurilla and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz reportedly discussed how Washington could potentially assist Israel in an attack.
Axios had reported last month that Trump’s letter to the Iranian leadership, which gave the ultimatum of either talks or a bombing campaign against Iran, included the imposition of a two-month deadline.
The US president has publicly repeated the threat of bombing several times since sending his letter in early March.
“When you start talks, you know pretty quickly whether they’re going well or not. So, the conclusion would be – when I feel they’re not going well. But if it requires military, we’re going to have military. Israel will obviously be very involved in that – maybe even lead it. But nobody leads us. We do what we want to do,” Trump said earlier this month.
Netanyahu has demanded that any nuclear deal with Iran include the complete destruction of all of Iran’s nuclear facilities and equipment, implemented and supervised solely by the US.
Tehran says its uranium enrichment and its defensive capabilities are not subject to negotiations, and that it aims only to verify the peaceful nature of its nuclear program and secure a removal of US sanctions.
The next round of US–Iran talks will be held on 19 April.
(The Cradle)
