President-elect Donald Trump is reportedly weighing different options, including military options, for how to confront and destroy the threat of nuclear weapons being produced by the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The Wall Street Journal reported that military strikes against nuclear facilities are now under serious consideration by the incoming president.
Adding the urgency is Iran’s increasing illicit stockpile of enriched uranium; it now has enough nuclear fuel to produce several nuclear bombs; the outbreak of war in the Middle East caused by Iran’s funding of terrorism; Israel decimating Hamas and Hezbollah; the rapid fall of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad; and Iran’s repeated attempts to assassinate Trump.
Trump has reportedly signaled to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he wants to take care of the problem, but he does not want to ignite an all-out war.
Trump’s incoming national security team is devising a new “maximum pressure 2.0” campaign against Iran that would impose even tougher sanctions on Iran and potentially add in a military component.
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Trump could beef up Israel’s military by stationing more U.S. forces in the region in addition to selling “advanced weapons to Israel, such as bunker-busting bombs, strengthening its offensive firepower to take Iranian nuclear facilities offline.”
The report added:
Trump aides and confidants supporting military options for his second term said the main idea would be to support Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities like Natanz, Fordow and Isfahan, and even potentially have the U.S. participate in a joint operation. Many current and former Israeli officials say there are huge uncertainties of how successful Israel would be in mounting a solo attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities, some of which are buried deep underground.
Mark Dubowitz, chief executive of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said that if there was ever a time to neutralize the threat posed by Iran’s nuclear weapons program, now would be the time.
In an interview published this week with TIME, Trump told the magazine that “anything can happen” with respect to the U.S. going to war with Iran in the near future.
“Anything can happen,” he said. “It’s a very volatile situation.”
Gabriel Noronha, who worked on Iran policy at the State Department during the first Trump administration, told the Journal that there was “strong support” inside Israel for taking military action against Iran after the October 7 terrorist attack.
“Iran does not have much room to go before they hit [Israel’s] red lines, and they still seem intent on escalating further,” he added.
