Donald Trump ‘talked out of launching strike on Iran’ by advisors amid fears it could spark wider conflict

U.S. President Donald Trump plays golf at the Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia
The US President was spotted playing golf at the Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia, on Sunday
REUTERS
Michael Howie17 November 2020

Donald Trump considered launching an air strike on Iran's main nuclear facility last week but was talked out of the drastic action by advisors who feared it could trigger a wider conflict, according to reports.  

Mr Trump asked for options on attacking the Natanz nuclear enrichment site during an Oval Office meeting on Thursday with his top national security aides, an unnamed US official told Reuters. 

The news agency said the official confirmed an account of the meeting in The New York Times, which reported the advisors persuaded Mr Trump not to go ahead with a strike because of the risk of a broader conflict.

The meeting happened nine days after the US election which was won by Democrat Joe Biden. However Mr Trump is refusing to concede defeat claiming the vote was rigged against him. His presidency has two months to run with a handover to Mr Biden due to happen on January 20.  

The senior advisors at the meeting were said to include Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, new acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller and General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Qassem Soleimani (centre) pictured in September 2016. The Revolutionary Guard General was killed by a US drone strike in January
AP

"He asked for options. They gave him the scenarios and he ultimately decided not to go forward," the official said. The White House declined comment. 

Mr Trump has spent all four years of his presidency engaging in an aggressive policy against Iran, withdrawing in 2018 from the Iran nuclear deal negotiated by his Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama, and imposing economic sanctions against a wide variety of Iranian targets.

His request for options came a day after a United Nations watchdog report showed Iran had finished moving a first cascade of advanced centrifuges from an above-ground plant at its main uranium enrichment site to an underground one, in a fresh breach of its 2015 nuclear deal with major powers. 

Alireza Miryousefi, spokesman for Iran’s mission to the United Nations in New York, said Iran's nuclear programme is purely for peaceful purposes and civilian use and Mr Trump's policies have not changed that. "However, Iran has proven to be capable of using its legitimate military might to prevent or respond to any melancholy adventure from any aggressor," he added. 

Iran's 2.4 tonne stock of low-enriched uranium is now far above the deal's 202.8 kg limit. It produced 337.5 kg in the quarter, less than the more than 500 kg recorded in the previous two quarters by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

In January, Mr Trump ordered a US drone strike that killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani at Baghdad's airport. But he has shied away from broader military conflicts and sought to withdraw US troops from global hotspots in keeping with a promise to stop what he calls "endless wars."

A strike on Iran's main nuclear site at Natanz could flare into a regional conflict and pose a serious foreign policy challenge for Mr Biden.

Mr Biden's transition team, which has not had access to national security intelligence due to the Trump administration's refusal to begin the transition, declined comment.

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