Report: Israel thinks Trump will back IDF strike on Iran nuke program or order US hit
Dermer said to leave Mar-a-Lago in November believing one of those two options likely, but others close to US president-elect think he’ll try for new nuclear deal before striking
Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer reportedly left a November meeting with Donald Trump believing the US president-elect will either support an Israeli military strike against Iranian nuclear facilities or direct a US strike on those sites himself.
The revelation was reported Monday in the Axios news site, which cited two sources who spoke to Dermer — a close confidant of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — after the meeting at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
The report said that Israel is seriously considering a strike of its own and that outgoing US President Joe Biden’s aides have also urged him to carry out a US strike before Trump takes office. No active conversations about such a strike are still being held at the White House, Axios clarified.
Dermer is reportedly slated to travel back to Washington this week for meetings with Biden and Trump aides.
Despite the increased speculation regarding a potential strike on Iran, Axios cited other unnamed individuals close to Trump who believe he will attempt to secure a new nuclear deal with Tehran before pursuing military options.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in an interview last week that his country is ready to restart nuclear talks with the US.
In 2018, Trump pulled out of the nuclear deal former president Barack Obama negotiated three years earlier. He advanced a maximum-pressure sanctions campaign against Tehran, which responded by rapidly accelerating its nuclear enrichment to the point where it is now effectively seen as a nuclear threshold state.
Biden entered office pledging to negotiate a US return to the 2015 deal along with the bolstering and strengthening of that accord, but that effort never got off the ground.
Asked about the possibility of war with Iran, in a November interview with Time magazine, Trump responded, “Anything can happen… It’s a very volatile situation.”
The 2015 deal’s snap-back sanctions clauses expire in October, adding further urgency to the issue for Western signatories of the agreement.
Senior diplomats from the E3 (France, Germany and the UK) met with Iranian officials in November and warned that they would institute snap-back sanctions if a new deal isn’t reached by the summer, Axios reported.
The Iranian officials in turn said Tehran would respond to those sanctions by withdrawing from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and end all UN inspections and monitoring of its nuclear facilities, the report said.
Citing the acceleration of its nuclear program and support for Russia’s war against Ukraine, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday that Iran is the main strategic and security challenge in the Middle East.
Last week, Araghchi said Tehran was ready for any future Israeli attacks on the country, while warning that such action could spark a wider conflagration.
There has been mounting speculation that Israel may strike Iran in response to recurring ballistic missile attacks launched against Israel by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, which receive arms and other support from the Islamic Republic.
“We are fully prepared for the possibility of further Israeli attacks,” Araghchi said to China’s state-run CCTV, according to a translation provided by the broadcaster. “I hope Israel will refrain from taking such reckless action, as it could lead to a large-scale war.”
Israel has carried out two direct attacks on Iran over the past year in response to its unprecedented drone and missile attacks, including an October 1 barrage of some 200 ballistic missiles by Tehran, most of which were intercepted.
Israeli warplanes carried out a counterstrike on October 26, hitting military facilities and air defenses protecting other key sites.
In April, Israel hit an air defense battery near a nuclear site in response to a volley of some 300 drones and missiles fired at Israel by Iran.
In contrast to bombastic rhetoric often utilized by Tehran to threaten Israel, however, Araghchi said Iran would pursue a “diplomatic approach” and would consult with allies, including China.
