Report: US could be open to ‘token’ enrichment if Iran blocked from developing nuke; one military scenario ‘takes out the ayatollah and his son’

The Trump administration is open to considering a proposal that would allow Iran to retain a “token” nuclear enrichment capability if Tehran’s route to an atomic bomb is fully sealed off, a senior US official is quoted telling Axios.

The news site says that while there could be a small opening for a deal, US officials say the proposal that Iran is expected to submit in the coming days must clear a very high bar to win over skeptics in the Trump administration and Middle East.

“President Trump will be ready to accept a deal that would be substantive and that he can sell politically at home. If the Iranians want to prevent an attack they should give us an offer we can’t refuse. The Iranians keep missing the window. If they play games there won’t be a lot of patience,” the senior US official says.

Another senior Trump adviser quoted in the report stresses that the US president “hasn’t decided to strike yet. I know that because we haven’t struck. He might never do it. He might wake up tomorrow and say, ‘That’s it.'”

According to the adviser, Trump has been presented with a range of military options for Iran.

“They have something for every scenario. One scenario takes out the ayatollah and his son and the mullahs,” the adviser elaborates, referring to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his son Mojtaba. “What the president chooses no one knows. I don’t think he knows.”

Another adviser says: “Trump is keeping his options open. He could decide on an attack at any moment.”