US President Donald Trump is becoming frustrated with “the limits of military leverage” against Iran, CBS News reported Tuesday, citing multiple sources familiar with the matter. According to the report, advisers have told the US president that it was unlikely that limited strikes on Iran would be decisive, and that there was a risk of escalation into a wider conflict. Trump is considering launching a limited strike on Iran in the immediate future to pressure Tehran to agree to his nuclear demands, multiple reports have said in recent days.
If the Islamic Republic continued to hold out, that strike could be followed by a far larger campaign potentially targeting regime change, the reports said. But US options may be limited. An Israeli intelligence official told the UK’s Financial Times in an article published on Tuesday that Israel believes that — despite the US assembling a massive military force in the region, including two aircraft carriers — it only has the capacity to sustain four or five days of intense aerial assault on Iran. The official said the force could maintain a week of lower-intensity strikes.
Israel is said to be fearful that limited US strikes on Iran could only embolden the regime. Iran has warned that even a limited US strike would draw a strong military response. Trump will base his decision on whether to strike Iran based on the assessments of his two chief negotiators, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, of Tehran’s intentions, The Guardian reported Tuesday.
The report, which cited people familiar with the matter, said that Witkoff and Kushner will brief the US leader on their impressions regarding whether Iran is serious about reaching a nuclear deal or just stalling for time. The two have reportedly been pressing the US president to give negotiations more time and are set to meet Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Geneva on Thursday. (Read More)
