The White House is seriously considering Iran’s proposal for indirect nuclear talks, while also significantly increasing American forces in the Middle East in case US President Donald Trump chooses to conduct military strikes on its nuclear sites, a report said Wednesday.
The report by the Axios news site, which cited two unnamed US officials, comes amid an exchange of public remarks and threats between the US and Iran, as well as private correspondence, regarding the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program, with Trump offering a two-month window for talks in a letter to Iran three weeks ago, and Iran publicly rejecting direct talks but offering discussions through the mediation of Oman.
On Sunday, Trump threatened, “If they don’t make a deal, there will be bombing,” adding: “It will be bombing the likes of which they have never seen before.”
The US has recently moved stealth bombers and an additional aircraft carrier into the Middle East and Indian Ocean, in striking distance of both Yemen — where American jets have been targeting the Iran-backed Houthis — and Iran itself.
The US president over the weekend received Iran’s formal response to his letter, Axios reported, citing one US official who said the White House believes direct negotiations would have a greater chance of success, but hasn’t ruled out indirect talks.
Both officials were cited as saying no final decision has been made, with one telling the outlet: “After the exchange of letters, we are now exploring next steps in order to begin conversations and trust building with the Iranians.”
The administration is split between some officials who think a deal can be reached, and others who think talks would be a waste of time and are advocating strikes, the report claimed.
For now, a US official told Axios that Trump doesn’t want war with Iran, but wants military assets in the region for the sake of deterrence and to maintain the option of action if diplomacy fails and the situation escalates quickly.
During his first presidential term, Trump withdrew the US from a 2015 deal between Iran and world powers that placed strict limits on Tehran’s disputed nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief. He also reimposed sweeping US sanctions, in a “maximum pressure” campaign he has renewed upon his return to office.
Iran, which is sworn to Israel’s destruction, denies seeking a nuclear weapon, but it has ramped up its enrichment of uranium up to 60 percent purity, the only country in the world without a nuclear weapons program to do so, and has obstructed international inspectors from checking its nuclear facilities.
Iran has twice in the past year fired large barrages of missiles and drones at Israel in support of its terror proxies Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis in Yemen.
In response, Israel struck Iranian facilities, including missile factories and air defenses. That reduced Tehran’s conventional military capabilities, according to analysts and US officials, an assessment disputed by Tehran.
Agencies contributed to this report.