"The Iranians got close and then pulled back - close and then pulled back. I understood from that that they don't really want a deal. I saw that every month they did something bad, blew something up or killed someone."
"A short operation followed by new ultimatums would be a dramatically different outcome than the regime change that some U.S. and Israeli officials have described as the goal. Trump is facing domestic pressure, including from his MAGA base, to avoid a prolonged Middle East intervention."
Trump predicted Iran would require several years to recover from recent military strikes. He cited two primary justifications: the collapse of nuclear negotiations led by envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, with Iranian negotiators repeatedly withdrawing from discussions, and Iran's historical pattern of hostile activities over 25 years. Trump compiled evidence of monthly Iranian-linked attacks globally while preparing his speech announcing the operation. He emphasized that previous strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities in June prevented Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Despite the military action, Trump indicated openness to diplomatic resolution, facing domestic pressure from his political base to avoid extended Middle East involvement.
#iran-us-relations #nuclear-diplomacy #military-operations #trump-administration #middle-east-conflict
Read at Axios
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]