Trump to decide whether to attack Iran 'within the next two weeks'
[Editor's Note: Follow the KT live blog for live updates on the Israel-Iran conflict. ]
US President Donald Trump said Thursday he will decide whether to attack Iran within the next two weeks due to a "substantial" chance of negotiations, as Israel and its regional rival traded fire for a seventh day.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt read out a message from Trump at a briefing, saying there had been "a lot of speculation" about whether the United States would be "directly involved."
"Based on the fact that there's a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks," Trump said in the statement.
Stay up to date with the latest news. Follow KT on WhatsApp Channels.
Leavitt would not give details of what had led Trump to believe that negotiations with Iran were possible.
Trump had said on Wednesday that Iran had asked to send officials to the White House to negotiate a deal on its nuclear programme and end the conflict with Israel. Iran denied it would do so.
Leavitt said that "correspondence has continued" between the United States and Iran when asked about reports that Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff had been in touch with Iran's foreign minister.
But she said she was "not tracking" that Witkoff would go to Geneva for talks with Iran.
Trump held his third meeting in three days in the White House's highly secured Situation Room on Thursday as he continued to mull whether to join Israel's bombing campaign.
The US President had said on Wednesday that "I may do it, I may not do it" when asked if he would take military action against Iran.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Gulf Today
4 hours ago
- Gulf Today
Trump privately approved attack plans for Iran pending final order, WSJ reports
US President Donald Trump told senior aides late on Tuesday that he approved attack plans for Iran but has withheld a final order to see if Tehran would abandon its nuclear program, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing three people familiar with the deliberations. Israel struck a key Iranian nuclear site on Thursday and Iranian missiles hit an Israeli hospital, as President Donald Trump kept the world guessing about whether the US would join Israel in airstrikes seeking to destroy Tehran's nuclear facilities. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has vowed to press on with Israel's biggest ever attack on Iran until his arch enemy's nuclear programme is destroyed, said Tehran's "tyrants" would pay the "full price". His Defence Minister Israel Katz said the military had been instructed to intensify strikes on strategic-related targets in Tehran in order to eliminate the threat to Israel and destabilise the "Ayatollah regime". Netanyahu has said that Israel's military attacks could topple the regime in Iran, and Israel would do whatever is necessary to remove the "existential threat" posed by Tehran. A week of Israeli air and missile strikes against its major rival has wiped out the top echelon of Iran's military command, damaged its nuclear capabilities and killed hundreds of people, while Iranian retaliatory strikes have killed at least two dozen civilians in Israel. The Israeli military said it targeted the Khondab nuclear reactor in Iran's central city Arak overnight, including a partially-built heavy-water research reactor. Heavy-water reactors produce plutonium, which, like enriched uranium, can be used to make the core of an atom bomb. Iranian media reported two projectiles hitting an area near the facility. There were no reports of radiation threats. Israel's military said it also struck a site in the area of Natanz, which it said contains components and specialised equipment used to advance nuclear weapons development. Iran has always denied planning to build an atomic weapon and says its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes. Its Atomic Energy Organisation said Israel had attacked its nuclear sites "in renewed violation of international law" and that there were no casualties because the areas had been evacuated. On Thursday morning, several Iranian missiles struck populated areas in Israel, including a hospital in the southern part of the country, according to an Israeli military official. Iran's Revolutionary Guard said it was targeting Israeli military and intelligence headquarters near Soroka medical centre in the city of Beersheba in the south of the country. Soroka reported it had sustained damage. The week of Iranian missile salvoes mark the first time in decades of shadow war and proxy conflict that a significant number of projectiles fired from Iran have penetrated defences, killing Israelis in their homes. Trails of missiles and interception efforts were visible in the skies over Tel Aviv, with explosions heard as incoming projectiles were intercepted. Israeli media also reported direct hits in central Israel. Emergency services said five people had been seriously injured in the attacks and dozens of others hurt in three separate locations. People were still trapped in a building in a south Tel Aviv neighbourhood, they added. Around a dozen mostly European and African embassies and diplomatic missions are located just a few hundred metres from the strike on Tel Aviv. Buildings were extensively damaged in Ramat Gan near Tel Aviv, a key commercial hub home to high-rise towers, and emergency workers helping residents, including children. The blast caused significant damage to nearby residential buildings and shattered windows across the area. "It's very scary," said Yaniv, 34, who lives just a few hundred meters away. He said he heard a deafening explosion when the missile hit, shaking his apartment tower. The worst-ever conflict between the two regional powers has raised fears that it will draw in world powers and further destabilize the Middle East. Oil prices surged after Israel said it attacked Iranian nuclear sites overnight, as investors grapple with fears of a broader conflict in the Middle East that could disrupt crude supplies. Agencies
Al Etihad
5 hours ago
- Al Etihad
Trump will decide on Iran attack ‘in the next two weeks,' White House Says
20 June 2025 00:45 (The New York Times)US President Donald Trump said Thursday he will decide whether the United States will attack Iran "within the next two weeks,' adding in a statement released by the White House that "there's a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future.'For days, Trump had mused publicly about the possibility of ordering US forces to bomb Iranian nuclear sites, suggesting that strikes could be imminent, while also insisting that it was not too late for talks. With his comments Thursday, he appeared to opt for some breathing room to consider options that carry a lower risk of Leavitt, the White House Press Secretary, said Steve Witkoff, the president's special envoy to the Middle East, has maintained correspondence with Iranian officials. She declined to provide any further details. Iran pulled out of talks with US officials about a nuclear deal after Israel began its attacks last Friday. Leavitt said any nuclear deal with Iran would have to include a ban on enriching uranium and block Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
Khaleej Times
6 hours ago
- Khaleej Times
What are the nuclear contamination risks from Israel's attacks on Iran?
E[Editor's Note: Follow the KT live blog for live updates on the Israel-Iran conflict. ] Israel says it is determined to destroy Iran's nuclear capabilities in its military campaign, but that it also wants to avoid any nuclear disaster in a region that is home to tens of millions of people and produces much of the world's oil. Fears of catastrophe rippled through the Gulf on Thursday when the Israeli military said it had struck a site in Bushehr on the Gulf coast — home to Iran's only nuclear power station — only to later say the announcement was a mistake. Below are details on the damage caused so far by Israel's attacks, and what experts are saying about the risks of contamination and other disasters. What has Israel hit so far? Israel has announced attacks on nuclear sites in Natanz, Isfahan, Arak and Tehran itself. Israel says it aims to stop Iran building an atom bomb. Iran denies ever seeking one. The international nuclear watchdog IAEA has reported damage to the uranium enrichment plant at Natanz, to the nuclear complex at Isfahan, including the Uranium Conversion Facility, and to centrifuge production facilities in Karaj and Tehran. Israel said on Wednesday it had targeted Arak, also known as Khondab, the location of a partially built heavy-water research reactor, a type that can easily produce plutonium which, like enriched uranium, can be used to make the core of an atom bomb. The IAEA said it had information that the Khondab heavy water research reactor had been hit, but that it was not operational and reported no radiological effects. What fallout risks do these strikes pose? Peter Bryant, a professor at the University of Liverpool in England who specialises in radiation protection science and nuclear energy policy, said he is not too concerned about fallout risks from the strikes so far. He noted that the Arak site was not operational while the Natanz facility was underground and no release of radiation was reported. "The issue is controlling what has happened inside that facility, but nuclear facilities are designed for that," he said. "Uranium is only dangerous if it gets physically inhaled or ingested or gets into the body at low enrichments," he said. Darya Dolzikova, a senior research fellow at London think tank RUSI, said attacks on facilities at the front end of the nuclear fuel cycle - the stages where uranium is prepared for use in a reactor - pose primarily chemical, not radiological risks. At enrichment facilities, UF6, or uranium hexafluoride, is the concern. "When UF6 interacts with water vapour in the air, it produces harmful chemicals," she said. The extent to which any material is dispersed would depend on factors including weather conditions, she added. "In low winds, much of the material can be expected to settle in the vicinity of the facility; in high winds, the material will travel farther, but is also likely to disperse more widely." The risk of dispersal is lower for underground facilities. What about nuclear reactors? The major concern would be a strike on Iran's nuclear reactor at Bushehr. Richard Wakeford, Honorary Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Manchester, said that while contamination from attacks on enrichment facilities would be "mainly a chemical problem" for the surrounding areas, extensive damage to large power reactors "is a different story". Radioactive elements would be released either through a plume of volatile materials or into the sea, he added. James Acton, co-director of the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said an attack on Bushehr "could cause an absolute radiological catastrophe", but that attacks on enrichment facilities were "unlikely to cause significant off-site consequences". Before uranium goes into a nuclear reactor it is barely radioactive, he said. "The chemical form uranium hexafluoride is toxic ... but it actually doesn't tend to travel large distances and it's barely radioactive. So far the radiological consequences of Israel's attacks have been virtually nil," he added, while stating his opposition to Israel's campaign. Why are Gulf states especially worried? For Gulf states, the impact of any strike on Bushehr would be worsened by the potential contamination of Gulf waters, jeopardising a critical source of desalinated potable water. In the UAE, desalinated water accounts for more than 80% of drinking water, while Bahrain became fully reliant on desalinated water in 2016, with 100% of groundwater reserved for contingency plans, according to authorities. Qatar is 100% dependent on desalinated water. In Saudi Arabia, a much larger nation with a greater reserve of natural groundwater, about 50% of the water supply came from desalinated water as of 2023, according to the General Authority for Statistics. While some Gulf states like Saudi Arabia, Oman and the UAE have access to more than one sea to draw water from, countries like Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait are crowded along the shoreline of the Gulf with no other coastline. "If a natural disaster, oil spill, or even a targeted attack were to disrupt a desalination plant, hundreds of thousands could lose access to freshwater almost instantly," said Nidal Hilal, Professor of Engineering and Director of New York University Abu Dhabi's Water Research Center. "Coastal desalination plants are especially vulnerable to regional hazards like oil spills and potential nuclear contamination," he said.
