Trump blocked Israeli strike after divisions emerged in his administration

WASHINGTON – Israel had planned to strike Iranian nuclear sites as soon as May but was blocked by US President Donald Trump in recent weeks in favour of negotiating a deal with Tehran to limit its nuclear programme, according to administration officials and others briefed on the discussions.

Mr Trump made his decision after months of internal debate over whether to pursue diplomacy or support Israel in seeking to set back Iran’s ability to build a bomb, at a time when the Middle Eastern country has been weakened militarily and economically.

The debate highlighted fault lines between historically hawkish US Cabinet officials and other aides more sceptical that a military assault on Iran could destroy the country’s nuclear ambitions and avoid a larger war.

It resulted in a rough consensus, for now, against military action, with Iran signalling a willingness to negotiate.

Israeli officials had recently developed plans to attack Iranian nuclear sites in May. They were prepared to carry them out and, at times, were optimistic that the US would sign off on it.

The goal of the proposals, according to officials briefed on them, was to set back Iran’s ability to develop a nuclear weapon by a year or more.

Almost all of the plans would have required US help not just to defend Israel from Iranian retaliation but also to ensure that an Israeli attack was successful, making the US a central part of the attack itself.

For now, Mr Trump has chosen diplomacy over military action.

In his first term, he tore up the Iran nuclear deal negotiated by the Obama administration. But in his second term, eager to avoid being sucked into another war in the Middle East, he has opened negotiations with Tehran, giving it a deadline of just a few months to negotiate a deal over its nuclear programme.

Earlier in April, Mr Trump informed Israel of his decision that the US would not support an attack.

He discussed it with Mr Benjamin Netanyahu when the Israeli Prime Minister visited Washington last week, using an Oval Office meeting to announce that the US was beginning talks with Iran.

In a statement delivered in Hebrew after the meeting, Mr Netanyahu said that an agreement with Iran would work only if it allowed the signers to “go in, blow up the facilities, dismantle all the equipment, under American supervision with American execution”.

This article is based on conversations with multiple officials briefed on Israel’s secret military plans and confidential discussions inside the Trump administration. Most of the people interviewed spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss military planning.

Initially, at the behest of Mr Netanyahu, senior Israeli officials updated their US counterparts on a plan that would have combined an Israeli commando raid on underground nuclear sites with a bombing campaign, an effort that the Israelis hoped would involve American aircraft.

But Israeli military officials said the commando operation would not be ready until October. Mr Netanyahu wanted it carried out more quickly. Israeli officials began shifting to a proposal for an extended bombing campaign that would have also required US assistance, according to officials briefed on the plan.

Some US officials were at least initially more open to considering the Israeli plans.

General Michael Kurilla, head of US Central Command, and Mr Michael Waltz, the national security adviser, discussed how the US could potentially support an Israeli attack, if Mr Trump backed the plan, according to officials briefed on the discussions.

With the US intensifying its war against Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen, Gen Kurilla, with the blessing of the White House, began moving military equipment and aircraft to the Middle East.

All of the equipment could be used for strikes against the Houthis – whom the US has been attacking since March 15 to halt their strikes against shipping vessels in the Red Sea. But US officials said privately that the weaponry was also part of the planning for potentially supporting Israel in a conflict with Iran.

There were signs Mr Trump was open to US support for Israeli military action against Iran. Washington has long accused Tehran of giving the Houthis weapons and intelligence, and of exercising at least a degree of control over the group.

On March 17, as Mr Trump warned the Houthi rebels in Yemen to stop their attacks, he also called out Iran, saying that it was in control of the Houthis.

“Every shot fired by the Houthis will be looked upon, from this point forward, as being a shot fired from the weapons and leadership of Iran,” Mr Trump wrote in a social media post, adding, “Iran will be held responsible, and suffer the consequences, and those consequences will be dire!”

But inside the Trump administration, some officials were becoming sceptical of the Israeli plan.

In a meeting in April – one of several discussions about the Israeli plan – Ms Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, presented a new intelligence assessment that said the build-up of American weaponry could potentially spark a wider conflict with Iran that the US did not want.

A range of officials echoed Ms Gabbard’s concerns in the various meetings. Ms Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Vice-President J.D. Vance all voiced doubts about the attack.

Even Mr Waltz, frequently one of the most hawkish voices on Iran, was sceptical that Israel’s plan could succeed without substantial US assistance.

The recent meetings came shortly after the Iranians said they were open to indirect talks – communications through an intermediary.

In March, Mr Trump had sent a letter offering direct talks with Iran, an overture that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had appeared to reject. But on March 28, a senior Iranian official sent a letter back signalling openness to indirect talks.

During a visit to Israel earlier in April, Gen Kurilla told officials there that the White House wanted to put the plan to attack the nuclear facility on hold.

Mr Netanyahu called Mr Trump on April 3. According to Israeli officials, Mr Trump told the Israeli leader that he did not want to discuss Iran plans on the phone. But he invited Mr Netanyahu to come to the White House.

Mr Netanyahu arrived in Washington on April 7. While the trip was presented as an opportunity for him to argue against Mr Trump’s tariffs, the most important discussion for the Israelis was their planned strike on Iran.

But while Mr Netanyahu was still at the White House, Mr Trump publicly announced the talks with Iran.

In private discussions, Mr Trump made clear to Mr Netanyahu that he would not provide US support for an Israeli attack in May while the negotiations were playing out, according to officials briefed on the discussions.

The next day, Mr Trump suggested that an Israeli military strike against Iran remained an option.

“If it requires military, we’re going to have military,” Mr Trump said. “Israel will, obviously, be the leader of that.”

After Mr Netanyahu’s visit, Mr Trump assigned Mr John Ratcliffe, the Central Intelligence Agency director, to travel to Jerusalem.

On April 10, Mr Ratcliffe met with Mr Netanyahu and Mr David Barnea, head of the Mossad spy agency, to discuss options for dealing with Iran.

In addition to talks and strikes, other options were discussed, including covert Israeli operations conducted with US support and more aggressive sanctions enforcement, according to a person briefed on Mr Ratcliffe’s visit.

US officials have long said that Israel, acting alone, could not do significant enough damage to Iranian nuclear sites with only a bombing campaign.

Israel has long sought America’s largest conventional bomb – a 13,600kg bunker buster, which could do significant damage to key Iranian nuclear sites beneath mountains.

Israel considered various options for the May strike, many of which it discussed with US officials.

Mr Netanyahu initially pushed for an option that would have combined air strikes with commando raids. The plan would have been a far more ambitious version of an operation Israel carried out in September 2024, when Israeli forces flew by helicopter into Syria to destroy an underground bunker used to build missiles for Hezbollah.

In that operation, Israel used air strikes to take out guard posts and air defence sites. Commandos then rappelled to the ground. The teams of fighters, armed with explosives and small arms, infiltrated the underground facility and set explosives to destroy key equipment for making the weaponry.

But US officials were concerned that only some of Iran’s key facilities could be taken out by commandos. Iran’s most highly enriched uranium, close to bomb grade, is hidden around the country at multiple sites.

To be successful, Israeli officials wanted American planes to conduct air strikes, protecting the commando teams on the ground.

But even if US help was forthcoming, Israeli military commanders said such an operation would take months to plan. That presented problems. With Mr Kurilla’s tour of duty expected to end in the next few months, Israeli and US officials wanted to develop a plan that could be carried out while he was still in command.

And Mr Netanyahu wanted to move fast. After shelving the commando idea, Israeli and US officials began discussing a plan for an extensive bombing campaign that would have started in early May and lasted more than a week.

An Israeli strike in 2024 had already destroyed Iran’s Russian-made S-300 air defence systems. The bombing campaign would have had to begin with striking remaining air defence systems, allowing Israeli fighters to have a clearer path to hitting the nuclear sites.

Any Israeli attack on nuclear sites would presumably prompt a new Iranian missile barrage against Israel that would require US assistance to rebuff. Senior Iranian officials, from the President to the head of the armed forces and Foreign Minister, have said that Iran would defend itself if attacked by Israel or the US.

Brigadier-General Mohammad Bagheri, the head of Iran’s armed forces, said in a speech on April 6 that Iran did not want war and wanted to resolve the stand-off with the US through diplomacy.

But he warned: “Our response to any attack on the Islamic Republic’s sovereignty will be forceful and consequential.” NYTIMES