Mideast War: Donald Trump scuppered Israel strike on Iran’s nuclear sites after administration’s doubts

Donald Trump reportedly dissuaded Israel from launching a strike on Iran’s nuclear sites, with the US President instead opting for talks with Tehran to place restrictions on its controversial program.

The New York Times reports that Benjamin Netanyahu’s forces were ready to launch the attack as soon as next month, but was talked down by the US President following months of internal debate with his team on whether to back Israel’s use of force or choose diplomacy.

Instead Iran, which has been weakened both militarily and economically, will be heading to its next round of talks with the US in Rome this weekend on its nuclear program.

Israel has long sought to restrict Tehran’s ability to create a nuclear bomb and, according to the Times, its officials had developed plans to carry out attacks on its nuclear sites in May and was awaiting a US sign-off.

However, it’s understood the Trump administration was eventually convinced by its own cabinet officials and aides that an all-out assault on the nation, a backer of Hamas and Hezbollah, was likely to lead to a larger conflict in the volatile region.

The Times reported that the Trump Administration expressed this stance to Mr Netanyahu’s government in recent weeks. It also reported that almost all of the IDF plans to hit Iran’s nuclear sites would have required US help both to ensure such an attack’s success and also to dissuade Tehran from retaliating.

The report cited conversations with officials briefed on the IDF’s secret plans, and who spoke to the outlet on the condition of anonymity.

Mr Trump’s choice of diplomacy over force comes with the confirmation of this weekend’s nuclear talks on Iranian state television.

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian has also formally approved the resignation of one of his vice presidents who served as Tehran’s key negotiator in its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

The head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, Rafael Mariano Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency, also arrived in the Islamic Republic on Wednesday. His talks may include negotiations over just what access the IAEA inspectors can get under any proposed deal.

The state TV announcement said Oman will again mediate the talks on Saturday in Rome. Oman’s foreign minister served as an interlocutor between the two sides at talks last weekend in Muscat, the sultanate’s capital.

Officials initially on Monday identified Rome as hosting the negotiations, only for Iran to insist early Tuesday they would return to Oman. American officials so far haven’t said publicly where the talks will be held, though Mr Trump did call Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq on Tuesday, while the ruler was on a trip to the Netherlands.

The stakes of the negotiations couldn’t be higher for the two nations closing in on half a century of enmity. U.S. President Donald Trump repeatedly has threatened to unleash airstrikes targeting Iran’s nuclear program if a deal isn’t reached. Iranian officials increasingly warn that they could pursue a nuclear weapon with their stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels.

Pezeshkian praises former vice president while acknowledging his resignation

The former vice president, Mohammad Javad Zarif, served as a key supporter of Mr Pezeshkian in his election last year but drew criticism from hard-liners within Iran’s Shiite theocracy, who long have alleged Mr Zarif gave away too much in negotiations.

In March, Mr Zarif tendered his resignation to Mr Pezeshkian. However, the president did not immediately respond to the letter. Mr Zarif has used resignation announcements in the past in his political career as leverage, including in a dispute last year over the composition of Mr Pezeshkian’s Cabinet. The president had rejected that resignation.

But on late Tuesday, a statement from the presidency said Mr Pezeshkian wrote Mr Zarif a letter praising him but accepting his resignation.

“Pezeshkian emphasized that due to certain issues, his administration can no longer benefit from Zarif’s valuable knowledge and expertise,” a statement from the presidency said.

The president in a decree appointed Mohsen Ismaili, 59, to be his new vice president for strategic affairs. In Iran’s political system, the president has multiple vice presidents. Mr Ismaili is known as a political moderate and a legal expert.

Grossi visit comes as Iran has restricted IAEA access

Mr Grossi arrived in Tehran for meetings with Mr Pezeshkian and others. He met Wednesday night with Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, writing on the social platform X after the meeting: “Cooperation with (the IAEA) is indispensable to provide credible assurances about the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear programme at a time when diplomacy is urgently needed.”

Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency described Mr Araghchi as briefing Mr Grossi on the first round of talks with the US, while also urging the IAEA to “adopt a clear and transparent stance regarding threats against Iran’s peaceful nuclear facilities.” Both Israel and the US have threatened to attack Iran’s nuclear sites if a deal can’t be reached to limit Tehran’s program.

Since the nuclear deal’s collapse in 2018 with Mr Trump’s unilateral withdrawal of the US from the accord, Iran has abandoned all limits on its program, and enriches uranium to up to 60 per cent purity — near weapons-grade levels of 90 per cent.

Surveillance cameras installed by the IAEA have been disrupted, while Iran has barred some of the Vienna-based agency’s most experienced inspectors. Iranian officials also have increasingly threatened that they could pursue atomic weapons, something the West and the IAEA have been worried about for years since Tehran abandoned an organised weapons program in 2003.

Any possible deal between Iran and the US likely would need to rely on the IAEA’s expertise to ensure Tehran’s compliance. And despite tensions between Iran and the agency, its access has not been entirely revoked.