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Trump keeps Iran, lawmakers guessing on potential attack plans

13 7
yesterday

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President Trump is keeping the world guessing as he mulls whether to join Israel's escalating attacks on Iran aimed at destroying its nuclear program.

The president met with his national security aides in the Situation Room for a second consecutive day on Wednesday while openly weighing whether to strike Iran.

“Nobody knows what I’m going to do,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “I like to make a final decision one second before it’s due.”

Israeli officials said Thursday they would intensify their strikes after Iran targeted a key hospital in southern Israel in an overnight missile attack. Israel, meanwhile, carried out strikes on Iran's Arak heavy water reactor.

The Wall Street Journal reports Trump told senior aides he approved of an attack plan for Iran but was holding off on giving a final order to see if the country abandons its nuclear program. Bloomberg reports U.S. officials have drawn up plans for a possible strike on Iran in the coming days.

Israel has targeted Iranian nuclear enrichment sites, as well as high-ranking generals. But Tehran’s main nuclear facility, Fordow, is located in a mountain bunker that only the U.S. has the capability to strike.

The president has met with the National Security Council and spoken multiple times with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told lawmakers Wednesday the Pentagon was providing options to Trump as he decides next steps.

“I’m not looking to fight,” Trump later told reporters in the Oval Office. “But if it’s a choice between them fighting or [Tehran] having a nuclear weapon, you have to do what you have to do. And maybe we don’t have to fight.”

“There’s no way that you can allow, whether you have to fight or not, you can allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon, because the entire world will blow up,” he added. "Not going to let that happen."

The Hill: The U.S. faces a sea of risk if Trump presses ahead with an Iran attack.

The New York Times: A U.S. strike on Iran would bring risks at every turn, experts say.

Iran has readied missiles and equipment for strikes on U.S. bases in the region if Washington joins in the attacks. Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said any U.S. military intervention in the conflict would bring “irreparable damage.”

Asked if he thinks it is too late to negotiate a new deal to curb Iran's nuclear program, Trump said: "Nothing's too late."

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee on Wednesday issued an "urgent notice" for Americans in Israel, saying the Embassy in Jerusalem is helping arrange evacuations for citizens wanting to leave the country.

The Hill: U.S. Central Command chief Gen. Erik Kurilla, who leads U.S. military operations in the Middle East, has emerged as a key player in the Iran-Israel clashes.

The Hill: How close is Iran to having a nuclear weapon?

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