Donald Trump
It became known about the desire of US President Donald Trump to strike at a nuclear facility in Iran last week, November 12. The New York Times learned about this from four sources, including current and former government officials.
The publication suggests that Trump could have had in mind an object in the Iranian city of Netenz, but the White House did not comment on this information.
The material said that during a meeting in the Oval Office, Trump raised the question of how realistic it is to strike at Iran's main nuclear facility “in the coming weeks.” Senior advisers dissuaded the American leader from the risks of widespread conflict.
According to sources, the meeting took place after international inspectors reported “a significant increase in the country's stockpile of nuclear materials.” In the Oval Office were Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Acting Head of the Pentagon Christopher Miller, and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Millie. In their view, the strike on Iranian targets “could easily escalate into a broader conflict in the last weeks of Trump's presidency.”
On November 10, it was reported that Trump may want to conduct an operation against Iran after the dismissal of Pentagon chief Mark Esper. The Daily Mail wrote about such suspicions with reference to officials at the Ministry of Defense. It was noted that Esper contradicted the US president on the Iranian issue, refuting some of his statements, including after the elimination of the general of the elite Iranian special forces “Al-Quds” of the IRGC Qassem Soleimani on January 3.
US-Iranian relations escalated after the assassination by the US military of the general of the elite Iranian special forces “al-Quds” of the IRGC Qasem Soleimani on January 3 in Baghdad. On the night of January 8, several American military installations in Iraq were attacked by the Iranian IRGC. After that, Trump announced the introduction of new sanctions.
