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President Trump reiterated his desire to ink a comprehensive nuclear deal with Iran on Thursday, even as the Pentagon continues a massive military buildup in the Middle East.
During opening remarks at the inaugural meeting of the Board of Peace in Washington, Mr. Trump said Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner had made significant progress in negotiations with Iran this month, but added that military action is still on the table.
“Good talks are being had. It’s proven to be over the years not easy to make a meaningful deal with Iran. We have to make a meaningful deal, otherwise, bad things happen,” he said.
Mr. Trump also said people would find out about possible military strikes on Iran in “the next probably 10 days.” The president has made and broken similar deadlines in the past concerning foreign intervention.
Reports this week indicated that Mr. Trump could order strikes on targets in Iran as early as this weekend as a massive collection of U.S. forces, in an assemblage of firepower not seen since the lead-up to the Iraq War in 2003.
Among the most high-profile assets reportedly moved to the region recently are the U.S. aircraft carrier USS Gerald Ford, which was previously stationed in the Caribbean when Washington was preparing its operation against ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. The carrier group was spotted near Gibraltar on Wednesday and within 10 days could join the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier group or could be positioned to defend Israel in case of hostilities.
The Pentagon has also reportedly moved additional ground-based air defense systems, including Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) and Patriot Missile Defense systems, to the region over the past month.
F-35, F-22, and F-16 fighter jets have also been steadily moved from locations across Europe and the U.S. to closer bases in the Middle East, which could facilitate easier, faster military strikes on Iran. Long-range bombers in the U.S. have also been on a higher-than-usual alert status for weeks.
The buildup comes as Washington and Tehran engaged in the indirect nuclear talks for the first time since Tehran’s June war with Israel and the U.S. The latest round of discussions, which took place on Tuesday, was described as productive by Iran’s foreign minister, but he added that a deal covering Iran’s nuclear program was a long way off.
Mr. Trump and his allies have consistently insisted that Iran dismantle its nuclear program or face military action by the U.S. After five rounds of discussions last year, at which Tehran refused to give up uranium enrichment, Israel launched a series of preemptive strikes on Iran in June that were soon followed by targeted strikes by U.S. B-2 bombers on heavily fortified Iranian enrichment sites.
In January, after Iran’s violent suppression of a nationwide protest movement left thousands dead, Mr. Trump re-upped his threats of military action, this time calling for Iran to dismantle its nuclear program along with its long-range ballistic missiles and end its support for proxy groups in the region.
Most of those demands have been too rich for Tehran, which has insisted that ongoing negotiations only cover the future of Iran’s nuclear program.
The slow progress of diplomacy may push Mr. Trump to launch strikes on Iran as soon as this weekend, though the goals of potential U.S. attacks remain unclear. It is unlikely that quick and targeted attacks on Iranian ballistic missile or Revolutionary Guard Corps sites would result in regime change, and Tehran’s nuclear sites were so damaged during last year’s attacks that the country has not been able to restart enrichment.
Additionally, concerns remain about Iran’s response to U.S. strikes. Tehran has consistently said that it would respond violently to any strikes and has implied that the scope of its attacks would be far greater than those in June, when Iran launched a telegraphed attack on a U.S. airbase.
Last month, when Mr. Trump was threatening military action, several U.S. partners in the Middle East, including Egypt and Oman, urged the White House to reconsider over concerns that Iran strikes could trigger a devastating regional conflict.
Still, Mr. Trump has not indicated publicly that he has given up on diplomacy with Iran.
“The president has always been very clear, though, with respect to Iran or any country around the world, diplomacy is always his first option, and Iran would be very wise to make a deal with President Trump and with this administration,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters during a Wednesday briefing.
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