According to The New York Times, President Trump asked his advisors if he had options to attack Iran’s main nuclear site but was talked out of pulling the trigger. Four anonymous officials told the Times that Trump discussed the options at a meeting in the Oval Office on Thursday.
Trump’s senior advisors dissuaded the president from going through with a military strike on Iran. The advisors included Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Vice President Mike Pence, the acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley. The group warned Trump that a military strike could escalate into a broader conflict.
According to the Times, the officials left last week’s meeting assuming a military option was off the table. But President Trump could be looking into other ways to attack Iran or its allies in Iraq. In July, Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility was sabotaged by an explosion that caused a fire, an attack believed to have been carried out by Israel. Natanz is Iran’s main enrichment facility and would likely be the target for a US attack, should President Trump go through with one.
The president discussed the options in response to a report from the international watchdog that monitors Iran’s nuclear program under the 2015 nuclear deal, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The IAEA released a report last week that said Iran’s low-enriched uranium stockpile is now at 2,442.2 kg, which is 12 times the amount allowed under the deal of 202.8 kg.
But Iran has been purposely not complying with the stockpile limits to gain leverage for future talks and sanctions relief. US officials like to say Iran is violating the deal, but the Trump administration violated the agreement when it reimposed sanctions on Iran in 2018.
The IAEA report also said Iran began underground construction at Natanz, another thing Tehran has been open about. The move underground is clearly a response to the sabotage at the facility.
When it comes to attacking Iran’s nuclear program, cyber-attacks are an option for the US. In 2010, the US and Israel carried out a cyber-attack on Iran’s Natanz facility using a virus known as Stuxnet.
The Trump administration is ramping up its “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran and reportedly planning to sanction the country every week until Joe Biden is inaugurated on January 20th. The idea is to make it as hard as possible for Biden to return to the 2015 nuclear deal.
So why is bombing Iran the only solution Trump could think of?
OR
Was it the one solution Jared Kushner and his friends in Likud could propose?
One last bang for Israel out of the Trump admin.
because there would be 10 if not more 9/11’s in one form or another, Stupid americans learn nothing from its zionist past
You’ve bought into the official 9/11 story. Yeah, a few dudes with boxcutters pulled that off–defeating the entire US intelligence community and military. LOL!!!
While the NORAD fleet was in far NORTHERN CANADA for “Êxercercise” Vigilant Guardan when the planes struck on that September mỏning. NRAD sent help from Cape Cod….. too little, waaaay tô late.
The fun of hanging the fools on their ơn pétard of the òfficial lie (story)… Later after Bush accuses Sadam, they attack him, the arch ênmy of the people who flew the planes in the attack á á favor to WHO….????? We know the Saudis were pleased with Bush’s revenge. ‘Any who can believe the Ole story probably has a bridge in their closet.
Well, at least we know if Harris-Biden attack Iran nuclear facilities and fail spectacularly, such action was in fact never a realistic option.
“But Iran has been purposely not complying with the stockpile limits to gain leverage for future talks and sanctions relief.”
The NYT article doesn’t mention this. They even say Iran has enough to make two bombs by next spring. They do admit that the Uranium would have to be enriched to weapons grade but they already let the genie out of the bottle by that point and their propaganda piece did its job. Might as well hire Judith Miller back.
I would love to know what was actually said in that meeting. I cannot picture Pence / Pompeo uttering words arguing against an attack against Iran. Misinformation to try to get Iran off guard?
No doubt. Pompeo gets a chubbie just thinking about attacking Iran. Pence would also get a chubbie but he isn’t allowed since chubbies are only allowed for procreation.
Yeah, Donald, do this last hurrah for your equally nutty buddy Netanyahoo and your beloved Jewish children Javanka. Don’t care for Biden one bit, but will be good to see your backside–and don’t let the door hit you in the butt.
NYT = propaganda.
The idiot-in-chief realized the risk to success ratio of underground facilities…!
If you read the NYT article without saying “Bullshit!” at the end of every sentence, then you’re a chump and a useful idiot accomplice in continuing to promote America-as-Israel’s-bitch.
let’s start a war with Iran and blow up the entire Persian Gulf (including Israel) on our way out the door…