US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he will decide within two weeks regarding the direct involvement of the US military in the conflict between Israel and Iran, given the “substantial chance” for renewed negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program. The two Middle East arch foes engaged in their seventh day of attacks on one another on Thursday.
Trump has been considering attacking Iran by hitting its heavily fortified Fordo uranium enrichment facility, which is situated beneath a mountain and is generally believed to be inaccessible to all except American “bunker-buster” bombs. His statement was read out by the White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Iranian missiles struck residential buildings close to Tel Aviv and a major hospital in southern Israel, injuring at least 240 people on Thursday. Israel’s defense minister threatened Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei after the attacks.
Israel’s military “has been instructed and knows that in order to achieve all of its goals, this man absolutely should not continue to exist,” said Israel Katz, defense minister of Israel.
The latest attack on Iran’s nuclear program was launched by Israeli warplanes as rescuers wheeled patients out of the burning hospital.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, expressed confidence that Trump would “do what’s best for America.” “I can tell you that they’re already helping a lot,” he continued, speaking from the debris and broken glass around the Soroka Medical Centre in Beersheba.
According to US sources, Trump and his advisors hope that Iran, which is constantly under Israeli attack and has suffered significant loss to its missile arsenal, will soften its tough stance and accept conditions it had previously refused, such as giving up its uranium enrichment.
The White House was debating sending Vice President JD Vance and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff to the region for talks with Iran earlier this week. However, it did not materialise into scheduled conversations as Trump became skeptical that diplomatic attempts may work, and as of Thursday, both Vance and Witkoff were still in Washington.
The British, German, and French foreign ministers have been briefed on the specifics of the previous agreement Witkoff made to Iran, which Tehran ultimately turned down prior to the start of the Israeli strikes.
Along with the European Union’s top diplomat, they are scheduled to meet with Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi and other officials in Geneva on Friday. There were low hopes for Friday’s meeting in Geneva to be successful. However, a White House official maintained the possibility of progress in talks.
“This is a meeting between European leaders and Iran. The President supports diplomatic efforts from our allies that could bring Iran closer to taking his deal,” a White House official said.
Since Israel started its strikes a week ago, Iran has consistently told the US that it will not hold additional negotiations with the country until the current Israeli operation is over, according to two people familiar with the communications.
According to sources, the US has not yet put pressure on Israel to stop its attacks. Additionally, Trump stated last week that he has told Netanyahu to “keep going.”
Iran sees uranium enrichment as a red line and has not yet indicated that it is willing to change its stance. Furthermore, according to US sources, no formal discussions between the US and Iran were scheduled as of Thursday.