Trump has made up his mind about attacking Iran. He’s still mulling when to pull the trigger | Credits: Shutterstock
Donald Trump has officially approved plans to attack Iran, but is giving Tehran time to abandon its nuclear programme, which is said to be more advanced than previously believed, several news reports have revealed.
Iran’s well-defended Fordow enrichment facility is the US’s first potential target, the Wall Street Journal reported. The plant is buried under a mountain and considered by military experts to be out of reach of all. Still, the most powerful bombs, except for the United States-made GBU-57A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), the only munitions capable of penetrating down as far as required to damage the installations permanently, as reported by Euro Weekly News on Wednesday.
The United States has deployed military refuelling planes, more fighter jets, an aircraft carrier and other warships to the Middle East in what appears to be preparations ahead of attacks on Iran. However, Peter Hegseth assures the measures are only “defensive in nature,” EWN added.
UN: No credible indication
The U.N. nuclear watchdog, which carries out inspections in Iran, has said that while it cannot guarantee Iran’s nuclear programme is entirely peaceful, it has “no credible indication” of an active, coordinated weapons programme either, Reuters said.
“I’m not looking to fight. But if it’s a choice between fighting and them having a nuclear weapon, you have to do what you have to do,” Trump told reporters on Wednesday.
Today, Thursday, the WSJ said Trump was asked if he would strike Fordow, and he responded, “I may do it, I may not do it.” And he repeated his insistence on Iran’s unconditional surrender: “The next week is going to be very big, maybe less than a week.”
However, if Trump’s decision lies on Iran surrendering and abandoning its nuclear programme, according to Tehran’s leader, that’s not going to happen.
Iran will not surrender under pressure
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei earlier said his country wouldn’t surrender under pressure and warned any U.S. military intervention would bring “serious irreparable consequences.”
In an address to his nation, the ayatollah added that “Israel made a huge mistake and will be punished for that.” Those statements come after Iran had sent mixed signals, saying it would seek peace talks, and on the other hand, threatening to exit the NPT, the nuclear treaty that commits Tehran to non-nuclear proliferation.
Some U.S. diplomats and their families at the U.S. Embassy in Israel were evacuated Wednesday, according to two U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe sensitive diplomatic movements, AP reported.
Governments scramble to evacuate their citizens
France24 said “governments from around the world are attempting to evacuate thousands of their nationals from Israel and Iran who are caught up in the rapidly spiralling conflict.”
The US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, announced plans for evacuating Americans by air and sea. “The embassy is working on evacuation flights and cruise ship departures” for “American citizens wanting to leave Israel,” he said.
Australia has started evacuating around 1,500 citizens from Iran and more than 1,200 from Israel, but missile barrages have made it too risky for civilian aircraft to land in either country, Foreign Minister Penny Wong told national broadcaster ABC. “There’s no capacity for people to get civilian aircraft in, it is too risky, and the airspace is closed,” she added.
Israel and Iran have continued to exchange fire, and the death toll in Iran rose above 639 people, according to a human-rights group. In Israel, 24 people have died as a result of Iranian strikes.
And in the meantime, all the world is awaiting a decision from Trump on whether he’ll deploy bunker-busting bombs on Iran’s underground nuclear facilities.
