Oman’s foreign minister said on Wednesday that the fifth round of US-Iran nuclear talks will be held in Rome this Friday, despite US and Iranian officials being at odds over Tehran’s nuclear enrichment program.
Trump administration officials have been demanding that Iran eliminate its civilian enrichment program, a condition Iranian officials have made clear is a non-starter. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Tuesday that the US demand was “nonsense.”
Republicans in Congress are also demanding that any deal eliminate Iran’s nuclear enrichment program, likely in an effort to sabotage diplomacy and bring the US and Iran closer to war. Axios reported on Wednesday that Israel is preparing to swiftly strike Iran’s nuclear facilities if the US-Iran talks break down.
An Israeli official said that any attack on Iran would not be a one-off, but a military campaign lasting at least a week. The Israeli officials speaking to Axios also confirmed a report from CNN a day earlier that said the US observed Israel making preparations for an attack on Iran.
Israel would require significant US support if it wanted to do real damage to Iran’s nuclear facilities, but the CNN report cited an Israeli source who said Israel could launch an attack on its own if the US and Iran were to negotiate what it considers a “bad deal.” Another source said it was more likely Israel would strike Iran to sabotage the talks.
While President Trump previously declined to back an Israeli attack on Iran and opted for diplomacy, he has been threatening to bomb Iran if a deal isn’t reached. The threats come even though US intelligence agencies have recently reaffirmed there’s no evidence Iran is building a nuclear weapon.
