Trump says Israeli strike on Iran could happen but wants to avoid conflict

Japan Today

20 hours ago

FILE PHOTO: People walk past an anti-U.S. mural on a street in Tehran, Iran, May 11, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS/File Photo
By Jeff Mason, Francois Murphy and Parisa Hafezi
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that an Israeli strike on Iran "could very well happen" but he would not call it imminent and prefers to avoid conflict with Tehran and reach a peaceful solution over its nuclear program.
Trump's comments came after the U.N. nuclear watchdog's board of governors declared Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations and Tehran announced counter-measures, as a senior Iranian official said a "friendly country" had warned it of a potential Israeli attack.
U.S. and Iranian officials are scheduled to hold a sixth round of talks on Tehran's escalating uranium enrichment program in Oman on Sunday, according to officials from both countries and their Omani mediators.
But security concerns have risen since Trump said on Wednesday American personnel were being moved out of the region because "it could be a dangerous place" and that Tehran would not be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon.
Washington is concerned that Israel could take military action against Iran in the coming days, U.S. officials said on condition of anonymity, despite Trump's recent warning to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against such a strike while U.S. diplomacy continues with Tehran.
U.S. intelligence indicates that Israel has been making preparations to hit Iran's nuclear installations. But one U.S. official said there was no sign that Israel had made a final decision.
"I don't want to say imminent, but it looks like it's something that could very well happen," Trump told reporters at a White House event, adding Iran could not be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon.
"I'd love to avoid the conflict," he said. "Iran's going to have to negotiate a little bit tougher, meaning they're going to have to give us something they're not willing to give us right now."
Security in the Middle East has already been destabilized by spillover effects of the Gaza war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Trump has threatened to bomb Iran if the nuclear talks do not yield a deal and said he has become less confident Tehran will agree to stop enriching uranium. The Islamic Republic wants a lifting of U.S. sanctions imposed on it since 2018.
Earlier on Thursday, Trump expressed frustration that oil prices had risen amid supply concerns arising from potential conflict in the Middle East.
With Washington offering little explanation for its security concerns, some foreign diplomats suggested that the evacuation of personnel and U.S. officials anonymously raising the spectre of an Israeli attack could be a ploy to ratchet up pressure on Tehran for concessions at the negotiating table.
A senior Iranian official told Reuters on Thursday the latest tensions were intended to "influence Tehran to change its position about its nuclear rights" during the Sunday talks.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said that even if the country's nuclear facilities were destroyed by bombs they would be rebuilt, state media reported on Thursday.
BREACH OF NON-PROLIFERATION OBLIGATIONS
The International Atomic Energy Agency's Board of Governors declared Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations for the first time in almost 20 years, raising the prospect of reporting it to the U.N. Security Council.
The step is the culmination of a series of stand-offs between the IAEA and Iran since Trump pulled the U.S. out of a nuclear deal between Tehran and major powers in 2018 during his first term, after which that accord unravelled.
An IAEA official said Iran had responded to the 35-nation board's declaration by informing the U.N. watchdog that it plans to open a third uranium enrichment plant.
Enrichment can be used to produce uranium for reactor fuel or, at higher levels of refinement, for atomic bombs. Iran says its nuclear energy programme is only for peaceful purposes.
After the IAEA decision, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said Tehran's actions undermined the global Non-Proliferation Treaty and posed an imminent threat to regional and international security and stability.
Iran is a signatory to the NPT. Israel is not, and is believed to have the Middle East's sole nuclear arsenal.
Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and Mossad head David Barnea will go to Oman to meet U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff before the U.S.-Iran talks in another attempt to clarify Israel's position, Israeli media reported.
MARKET REACTION
After the Trump administration's announcement that it was pulling some personnel from the region, oil prices initially rose more than 4% on Wednesday to their highest levels since early April, before easing a bit on Thursday.
Shares in European airlines, travel companies and hotel chains were among the biggest losers in morning trade as investors worried the tensions would knock demand.
"Clearly it is Iran that is at the centre of this and the possibility that you see a strike from the U.S. or Israel," said Paul McNamara, a director of emerging market debt for investment firm GAM. "There is a lot of scope for things to get a whole lot worse if we do see a military strike and a sustained attack."
Iran's response to the IAEA resolution included several countermeasures being taken, Iranian state TV said.
Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesperson for Iran's atomic energy organization, told state TV that Tehran had informed the IAEA of two countermeasures including "the upgrading of centrifuges in Fordow (enrichment plant) from first to sixth generation, which will significantly boost the production of enriched uranium".
A branch of the Israeli military that issues real-time safety instructions to the public during emergencies said on Thursday that there had been no change to its public guidance.
Iranian retaliation for any Israeli attack will be "more forceful and destructive" than in the past, Revolutionary Guards commander Hossein Salami told state media.
Iran fired a barrage of missiles at Israel last year after Israeli forces bombed Tehran's consulate in Damascus. Israel replied with missile strikes in Iran and Syria - the first such direct attacks between the region's most entrenched enemies.
© Thomson Reuters 2025.