Israel appears to be preparing to launch an attack soon on Iran, according to officials in the United States and Europe, a step that could further inflame the Middle East and derail or delay efforts by the Trump administration to broker a deal to cut off Iran’s path to building a nuclear bomb.
The concern about a potential Israeli strike and the prospect of retaliation by Iran led the United States on Wednesday to withdraw diplomats from Iraq and authorize the voluntary departure of U.S. military family members from the Middle East.
It is unclear how extensive an attack Israel might be preparing. But the rising tensions come after months in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has pressed President Donald Trump to seize on what Israel sees as a moment of Iranian vulnerability to a strike.
Trump waved off another plan by Israel several months ago to attack Iran, insisting that he wanted a chance to negotiate a deal with Tehran that would choke off Iran’s ability to produce more nuclear fuel for a bomb.
It is not clear how much effort Trump made to block Netanyahu again this time, but the president has appeared less optimistic in recent days about the prospects for a diplomatic settlement after Iran’s supreme leader rejected an administration proposal that would have effectively phased out Iran’s ability to enrich uranium on its soil. Netanyahu has walked up to bombing Iran’s nuclear facilities in the past, only to back off at the last minute.
Word of the U.S. decisions to withdraw personnel from the region, along with a warning from Britain about new threats to Middle East commercial shipping, came hours after Trump told The New York Post in a podcast released Wednesday that he had grown “less confident” about the prospects for a deal with Iran that would limit its ability to develop nuclear weapons.
American and Iranian negotiators have been planning to meet Sunday for another round of talks, although Trump told reporters Monday that Iran had adopted an “unacceptable” negotiating position. As of Wednesday, Trump’s envoy to the talks, Steve Witkoff, was still planning to attend the negotiations in Oman, officials said.
Iranian military and government officials have already met to discuss their response to a potential Israeli strike, according to a senior Iranian official.
The New York Times News Service