In a White House press briefing, press secretary Karoline Leavitt delivers a message directly from US President Donald Trump.
Leavitt says amid reports of whether the US will be directly involved in the conflict between Israel and Iran, Trump says: “Based on the fact that there’s a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks.”
Karoline Leavitt has so far repeatedly declined to discuss “hypotheticals”, including on whether Iranian officials could come to the White House, or whether Trump would seek approval from Congress over any US involvement.
For the last several days, Trump and his administration have sought to maintain an air of strategic ambiguity, not revealing much publicly about their thinking or potential courses of action.
“I may do it,” he told reporters yesterday. “I may not do it.”
The only constant has so far been the administration’s stance that it believes that Iran has “never been closer” to successfully building a nuclear weapon.
Trump has also dismissed intelligence assessments – including some given by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard in Congress earlier this year – that Iran was not planning to do so.
Asked what the message is for “everyday Trump supporters” who have concerns about US involvement, Leavitt says to “trust in President Trump”.
She also praises the president’s instincts and claims he kept the world safe with “peace through strength” during his first term.
She adds that overtures with Iran have continued, but would not say why Trump believes there is still a “substantial chance” of negotiations.
Asked about the administration’s stance on a regime change in Iran, Leavitt says that the president’s “top priority” is ensuring that it does not successfully construct a nuclear weapon.
Trump has been briefed on both the risks and the benefits of bombing Iran’s Fordo nuclear facility, multiple sources tell the BBC’s US partner CBS News, external, and his mindset is that disabling the facility is necessary.
“He believes there’s not much choice,” one source tells CBS. “Finishing the job means destroying Fordo.”
As of Thursday morning, CBS reports Trump was still reviewing his options and has not made a firm decision.
UK, French and German foreign ministers will hold talks with their Iranian counterpart in Geneva today as part of efforts to ease the Israel-Iran conflict
Ahead of the meeting, UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy says “a window now exists within the next two weeks to achieve a diplomatic solution”
It comes after the White House says Donald Trump will decide in the next fortnight whether to take direct US action – read more on the timeline here
The exchange of fire between Israel and Iran has continued, with the Israeli military saying it attacked dozens of targets, including what it called missile manufacturing sites in Tehran
Seven people have been injured in Beersheba, southern Israel, emergency services say, after an Iranian missile struck a technology park
Iran has not released official casualty figures – BBC journalists are restricted from reporting from inside the country, making it difficult to assess the damage caused by Israel’s offensive
Iran’s nuclear programme, which it has always insisted is peaceful, has been severely damaged.
But it’s not destroyed completely.
Large amounts of highly enriched uranium – an essential component for building a nuclear bomb – are believed to be stored hundreds of feet below the Zagros Mountains at a heavily guarded site called Fordo.
Most analysts believe this could only be reached by repeated bombing by the US Air Force, using a weapon called a Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP).
But – short of a change of regime in Iran – it would take close-up, visual confirmation on the ground and beneath the ground at Fordo, to be certain this suspect component had been destroyed.
That would require either human intelligence fed back by well-placed agents of Israel’s Mossad spy agency, or a Special Forces raid by commandos. Both are highly risky undertakings.
There also remains the risk that Iran may have dispersed material and machinery in other, unknown locations.
And furthermore that, when the dust from this conflict has settled, the Islamic Republic retains enough of the scientific knowledge to restart its nuclear activities and then race to build a crude nuclear bomb, believing it to be the best deterrent against future attacks.
BBC
