At the same time that the US entered into negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program, President Trump admitted that considering limited military strikes against the state, and within the Trump administration, there are sides that align with the president in every election.
A Trump aide, who asked not to be named to talk about private conversations, described the internal discussions within the administration as a “small debate” or disagreement over foreign policy and much of Mr. Trump’s “series of updates.”
The coalition referred to the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, as a “reasonable person” in helping Mr. Trump to develop contours possible diplomatic agreementand top officials, such as Secretary of State Marco Rubio, should there be a military strike in the coming days or weeks.
Senior national security officials told Mr. Trump that the military will be ready for possible strikes to Iran as soon as Saturday, although the timeline for any action may extend beyond this weekend. The president has not made a final decision about whether to strike, officials said.
Publicly, Rubio has focused on communications efforts and said a few days ago that that was where the president was focused, too.
“Right now, we are talking about negotiations; we are focusing on negotiations,” he said in Slovakia on February 15. “The president has made that clear. If that changes, it will be clear to everyone.”
Rubio presented both sides of the argument to Mr. Trump, multiple sources familiar with the talks say, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have laid out options for the US military and a timeline for when the military equipment will be ready. All soldiers assigned to the region are expected to be operational by mid-March.
In private meetings, the Vice President, JD Vance, has also weighed in, and said he prefers not to launch military strikes against Iran, according to multiple sources.
A White House official said the vice president “provides a wealth of context and conditions for the president to make informed decisions on a wide range of issues.”
And the official said the president “listens to a range of opinions on any issue, but ultimately decides based on what’s best for our country and national security.”
“It’s not clear to me that he has made up his mind about his intentions,” former Trump national security adviser John Bolton, now a Trump critic, said in an interview. “I believe that in the end the military will be used because they have to protect the red line and withdraw it during the protests.”
The US and Iran it concludes In a round of talks Tuesday in Geneva, both sides said progress had been made, but “there are still many details to be discussed,” a US official said. Iran is expected to present detailed proposals within a few weeks “to address some of the gaps in our positions,” the official said. No date has been set for the next consultation.
Last June, the US joined Israel strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities during its 12-day war with Iran, resulting in intelligence is raised it was a major damage to the country’s nuclear program.
There has been some activity in the area nuclear facilities recently. Satellite images from late January showed roofs being erected over two damaged buildings at the Isfahan and Natanz nuclear facilities, the first major satellite activity at any of the nuclear sites attacked since the 12-day war.
