Trump says Iran strike would be ‘easily won’ but prefers deal
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US President Donald Trump pushed back on reports that the Pentagon was concerned that an extended military campaign against Iran could prove difficult.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump pushed back on reports that the Pentagon was concerned that an extended military campaign against Iran could prove difficult, even as he insisted on Feb 23 his preference was still to strike a diplomatic deal.
“Everything that has been written about a potential war with Iran has been written incorrectly, and purposefully so,” Mr Trump said in a social media post.
“I am the one that makes the decision, I would rather have a deal than not but, if we don’t make a deal, it will be a very bad day for that country and, very sadly, its people.”
The US President also rebutted earlier reporting, including by The Wall Street Journal, that suggested Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Dan Caine had been underscoring to Mr Trump the risks of such a strike.
Mr Trump said the general believes that “going against Iran at a military level” is something that would be “easily won”.
“He has not spoken of not doing Iran, or even the fake limited strikes that I have been reading about, he only knows one thing, how to win and, if he is told to do so, he will be leading the pack,” Mr Trump said in the post.
Tensions continued to run high in the region on Feb 23.
The State Department ordered the evacuation of non-emergency personnel at the US Embassy in Beirut
An assessment of the security environment in the region led the US government to reduce its footprint to only essential personnel, a senior State Department official said on condition of anonymity.
The embassy remains operational and the measure is temporary, the official added, without mention of Iran.
The US military is assembling a vast array of forces in the Middle East – likely the largest US deployment in the region since the 2003 invasion of Iraq – including two aircraft carriers, fighter jets and refuelling tankers.
Mr Trump said on Feb 20 that he is “considering” limited strikes on Iran and has said Tehran has around two weeks to strike a deal over its nuclear programme.
US and Iranian diplomats have been attempting to negotiate a new nuclear deal in recent weeks after Mr Trump pressured Iran into participating with threats of military action.
The President’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner plan to travel to Geneva this week for a new round of US-Iran talks on Feb 26, a US official said.
The two US envoys will meet once again with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who has repeatedly stressed the possibility of a diplomatic solution despite Mr Trump’s threats.
“I believe that still, there is a good chance to have a diplomatic solution which is based on a win-win game and a solution is at our reach,” Mr Araghchi said on Feb 22 on CBS’ Face The Nation.
The ongoing talks have been punctuated by a massive US military build-up in the Middle East
Those protests were the original reason Mr Trump gave for a potential US bombing campaign, but the President and other administration officials have offered conflicting public accounts of what they actually want from a new deal with Tehran.
Some officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, have argued for a deal that includes Iran’s missile programme, suppression of protests and support for proxy militant groups across the Middle East – including Yemen’s Houthis and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
Others, including Mr Trump, have said a narrower nuclear deal may be enough.
While Mr Trump said Iran had 10 to 15 days to agree to a deal
He claimed at the time that “key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated”.
Mr Trump could offer a fresh message on Iran during his State of the Union address on Feb 24.
Mr Witkoff said in an interview with Al-Arabiya that the US President is “curious” as to why Iranian officials have not “capitulated” to the increased US pressure by offering concessions on their nuclear programme.
Iran experts have argued that bombing the country in the middle of negotiations might derail a deal.
It could also prompt a deadly cycle of retaliation that includes pushing proxy groups to attack US military bases or facilities in the region.
It is possible fears of an Iranian or Hezbollah attack prompted the partial evacuation order at the Beirut embassy. BLOOMBERG
