US president says Israeli strikes on Iran are possible, but he reiterates preference for diplomatic deal with Tehran.
Washington, DC – United States President Donald Trump has warned that there is a “chance of massive conflict” in the Middle East, confirming that an Israeli attack on Iran is “possible”.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Trump said he would “love to avoid the conflict” and suggested that the US would like Israel to hold off on plans to strike Iran’s nuclear sites while Washington and Tehran continue their negotiations.
“I want to have an agreement with Iran. We’re fairly close to an agreement … I’d much prefer an agreement,” the US president said.
“As long as I think there is an agreement, I don’t want them [the Israelis] going in because I think that would blow it – might help it actually, but it also could blow it.”
Yet, Trump said that an Israeli attack “could very well happen” without elaborating whether the US would participate or assist in any strikes.
His comments came a day after the US pulled some of its diplomats from the region and put its embassies on high alert amid reports of a possible Israeli attack on Iran.
“There’s a chance of massive conflict,” Trump said.
“We have a lot of American people in this area. And I said: We’ve got to tell them to get out because something could happen soon, and I don’t want to be the one that didn’t give any warning, and missiles are flying into their buildings. It’s possible.”
Later on Thursday, the US president reiterated his commitments to diplomacy with Iran. “My entire Administration has been directed to negotiate with Iran,” he wrote in a social media post. “They could be a Great Country, but they first must completely give up hopes of obtaining a Nuclear Weapon.”
US and Iranian officials have held several rounds of talks since April to reach a nuclear deal to avert war.
Trump’s stated position is that Iran will never be allowed to obtain nuclear bombs.
Tehran denies seeking a nuclear weapon, but it stresses that it has a right to domestically enrich uranium – a process of altering the uranium atom to produce nuclear fuel.
But US officials have suggested that Iran must give up its enrichment capabilities to ensure that it cannot militarise its nuclear programme.
Nuclear talks
Despite the apparent impasse, the talks have continued. US and Iranian officials are scheduled to hold a sixth round of negotiations in Oman on Sunday.
Trump previously expressed optimism about the chances of reaching an agreement.
While Israel has not publicly said that it will attack Iran, the US move to partially evacuate its embassy in Baghdad and pull personnel from diplomatic posts across the Middle East on Wednesday raised concerns that violence could break out.
Moreover, the United Nations nuclear watchdog (IAEA) passed a resolution, put forward by the US, the United Kingdom, France and Germany, on Thursday that accused Iran of failing to comply with its nuclear obligations.
Tehran forcefully rejected the measure, accusing Washington and its allies of politically exploiting the international body.
During his first term, in 2018, Trump nixed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which saw Iran scale back its nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions against its economy.
Since then, the US has been piling sanctions on Iran. Tehran has responded by escalating its nuclear programme.
Early in his second term, Trump signed an executive order to tighten sanctions against Iran to choke off the country’s oil exports, particularly to China. But the US president has also stressed repeatedly that he does not want war.
Israel has been claiming for more than 20 years that Iran is on the cusp of obtaining a nuclear weapon.
In recent months, Israeli officials have suggested that they see an opportune moment to strike Iran, after the blows that Tehran’s regional allies suffered last year, including the fall of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the weakening of Hezbollah in Lebanon.
“Israel has never been stronger and the Iran terror axis has never been weaker,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in February.
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