Latest news with #Trump-negotiated
Egypt Independent
25-05-2025
- Politics
- Egypt Independent
New intelligence suggests Israel is preparing possible strike on Iranian nuclear facilities, US officials say
CNN — The US has obtained new intelligence suggesting that Israel is making preparations to strike Iranian nuclear facilities, even as the Trump administration has been The US has obtained new intelligence suggesting that Israel is making preparations to strike Iranian nuclear facilities, even as the Trump administration has been pursuing a diplomatic deal with Tehran, multiple US officials familiar with the latest intelligence told CNN. Such a strike would be a brazen break with President Donald Trump, US officials said. It could also risk tipping off a broader regional conflict in the Middle East — something the US has sought to avoid since the war in Gaza inflamed tensions beginning in 2023. Officials caution it's not clear that Israeli leaders have made a final decision, and that in fact, there is deep disagreement within the US government about the likelihood that Israel will ultimately act. Whether and how Israel strikes will likely depend on what it thinks of the US negotiations with Tehran over its nuclear program. But 'the chance of an Israeli strike on an Iranian nuclear facility has gone up significantly in recent months,' said another person familiar with US intelligence on the issue. 'And the prospect of a Trump-negotiated US-Iran deal that doesn't remove all of Iran's uranium makes the chance of a strike more likely.' The heightened worries stem not only from public and private messaging from senior Israeli officials that it is considering such a move, but also from intercepted Israeli communications and observations of Israeli military movements that could suggest an imminent strike, multiple sources familiar with the intelligence said. Among the military preparations the US has observed are the movement of air munitions and the completion of an air exercise, two of the sources said. But those same indicators could also simply be Israel trying to pressure Iran to abandon key tenets of its nuclear program by signaling the consequences if it doesn't — underscoring the ever-shifting complexities the White House is navigating. CNN has asked the National Security Council and the Israeli prime minister's office for comment. The Israeli Embassy in Washington did not comment. Trump has publicly threatened military action against Iran if his administration's efforts to negotiate a new nuclear deal to limit or eliminate Tehran's nuclear program fail. But Trump also set a limit on how long the US would engage in diplomatic efforts. In a letter to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in mid-March, Trump set a 60-day deadline for those efforts to succeed, according to a source familiar with the communication. It has now been more than 60 days since that letter was delivered, and 38 days since the first round ofv talks began. A senior Western diplomat who met with the president earlier this month said that Trump communicated that the US would give those negotiations only weeks to succeed before resorting to military strikes. But for now, the White House policy is one of diplomacy. That has put Israel 'between a rock and a hard place,' said Jonathan Panikoff, a former senior intelligence official specializing in the region. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under pressure both to avoid a US-Iran deal that Israel doesn't view as satisfactory, while also not alienating Trump — who has already broken with the Israeli prime minister on key security issues in the region. 'At the end of the day, the Israeli decision-making is going to be predicated on US policy determinations and actions, and what agreements President Trump does or does not come to with Iran,' Panikoff said, who added that he did not believe Netanyahu would be willing to risk entirely fracturing the US relationship by launching a strike without at least tacit US approval. Iran at its weakest in decades Iran is in its weakest military position in decades, after Israel bombed its missile production facilities and air defenses in October, combined with an economy weakened by sanctions and Israel's decimation of its most powerful regional proxies. Israel, US officials say, sees a window of opportunity. The US is stepping up intelligence collection to be prepared to assist if Israeli leaders decide to strike, one senior US official told CNN. But a source familiar with the Trump administration's thinking told CNN the US is unlikely to help Israel carry out strikes on Iranian nuclear sites at this moment, short of some major provocation by Tehran. Israel does not have the capacity to destroy Iran's nuclear program without American assistance, including midair refueling and the bombs required to penetrate the facilities deep underground, a need that is also reflected in previous US intelligence reports, according to a source familiar with the matter. An Israeli source told CNN that Israel would be prepared to carry out military action on its own if the US were to negotiate what this source described as a 'bad deal' with Iran that Israel cannot accept. 'I think it's more likely they strike to try and get the deal to fall apart if they think Trump is going to settle for a 'bad deal,'' said the other person familiar with US intelligence. 'The Israelis have not been shy about signaling that to us … both publicly and privately.' A US intelligence assessment from February suggested Israel could use either military aircraft or long-range missiles to capitalize on Iran's degraded air defense capabilities, CNN previously reported. But the same assessment also described how such strikes would only minimally set the Iranian nuclear program back and wouldn't be a cure-all. 'It's a real challenge for Netanyahu,' Panikoff said. For now, the US talks with Iran are stuck on a demand that Tehran not enrich uranium, a process which can enable weaponization, but which is also necessary to produce nuclear power for civilian purposes. Special envoy Steve Witkoff, who is leading the US delegation, told ABC News over the weekend that Washington 'cannot allow even 1% of an enrichment capability' under an agreement. 'We've delivered a proposal to the Iranians that we think addresses some of this without disrespecting them,' he said. Khamenei said on Tuesday that he does not expect negotiations with the United States over Tehran's nuclear program to 'reach a conclusion,' calling the US demand that Iran not enrich uranium a 'big mistake.' Iran insists it has a right to enrich under the United Nations' Treaty on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and says it will not relinquish that right under any circumstances. Another round of talks may take place in Europe this week, according to Witkoff. Both the US and Iran have put proposals on the table, but after more than a month of the talks facilitated by Oman, there is no current US proposal with Trump's sign-off, sources said. US intelligence agencies in February issued warnings that Israel will likely attempt to strike facilities key to Iran's nuclear program this year, CNN previously reported. It has 'consistently been the Israeli position that the military option is the only option to stopping Iran's military nuclear program,' one US official noted. CNN's Kylie Atwood, Zachary Cohen, Alex Marquardt and Oren Liebermann contributed to this report.
Sky News AU
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Israel preparing to strike Iran's nuclear facilities, even as Donald Trump tries to negotiate deal: report
Israel is preparing for a possible strike on Iran's nuclear facilities, despite the Trump administration's efforts to forge a diplomatic deal with Tehran, according to new report that cites American intel officials. Intercepted messages between Israeli officials as well as observations of Israeli military movements have led the US to believe such an attack could be imminent, officials in US intelligence told CNN. 'The chance of an Israeli strike on an Iranian nuclear facility has gone up significantly in recent months. And the prospect of a Trump-negotiated US-Iran deal that doesn't remove all of Iran's uranium makes the chance of a strike more likely,' a source familiar with US intelligence said. Air munitions movements and the completion of air exercises by Israel's forces are among the signs of a possible strike on the Islamic Republic, CNN reports. Such a strike risks triggering a broader regional conflict in the Middle East, experts have warned. President Trump has publicly threatened Tehran with military action if a new nuclear deal with the US falls through, while also setting limits on how long the US would continue its diplomatic efforts. The president gave Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei a 60-day deadline in a letter sent in mid-March, a source told CNN. It has now been more than 60 days since the letter was delivered and 38 days since the first round of talks began. Israel feels it has been left 'between a rock and a hard place' by the diplomatic stalemate, former senior intelligence official Jonathan Panikoff told CNN. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under pressure to not alienate his country's greatest ally, the United States, while also avoiding a US-Iran deal his country sees as a letdown. 'At the end of the day, the Israeli decision-making is going to be predicated on US policy determinations and actions, and what agreements President Trump does or does not come to with Iran,' Panikoff said. Israel is unlikely to launch a strike without at least tacit US approval, he added. 'I think it's more likely they strike to try and get the deal to fall apart if they think Trump is going to settle for a 'bad deal'. The Israelis have not been shy about signaling that to us, both publicly and privately,' an intelligence source told CNN. In October, Israel bombed Iran's missile production facilities and air defenses, leaving the regime the weakest it has been since it came to power in the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the son of the Iranian shah, Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, told The Post in a sit-down interview in New York this month. Israeli officials have talked up the possibility of further strikes on Iran in recent months, calling the Tehran regime an 'existential threat' to Israel. 'Iran is more exposed than ever to strikes on its nuclear facilities. We have the opportunity to achieve our most important goal — to thwart and eliminate the existential threat to the State of Israel,' Israel's Defense Minister, Israel Katz, wrote on X last November. Originally published as Israel preparing to strike Iran's nuclear facilities, even as Donald Trump tries to negotiate deal: report
New York Post
21-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
Israel preparing to strike Iran's nuclear facilities, even as Trump tries to negotiate deal: report
Israel is preparing for a possible strike on Iran's nuclear facilities, despite the Trump administration's efforts to forge a diplomatic deal with Tehran, according to new US intelligence. Intercepted messages between Israeli officials as well as observations of Israeli military movements have led the US to believe such an attack could be imminent, officials in US intelligence told CNN. 'The chance of an Israeli strike on an Iranian nuclear facility has gone up significantly in recent months. And the prospect of a Trump-negotiated US-Iran deal that doesn't remove all of Iran's uranium makes the chance of a strike more likely,' a source familiar with US intelligence said. Advertisement 4 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during the annual ceremony at the eve of Israel. via REUTERS 4 Iranian supreme leader, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during a meeting with teachers, in Tehran. AP 4 Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian visits Iran's nuclear achievements exhibition in Tehran, Iran April 9, 2025 via REUTERS Air munitions movements and the completion of air exercises by Israel's forces are among the signs of a possible strike on the Islamic Republic, CNN reports. Advertisement 4 Photo released on Nov. 5, 2019, by the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran shows centrifuge machines in the Natanz uranium enrichment facility in central Iran. AP Such a strike risks triggering a broader regional conflict in the Middle East, experts have warned. This is a breaking story. Please check back for more updates.
Daily Mirror
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mirror
Israel 'preparing strikes on nuclear sites' and could spark huge Middle East war
Israel is believed to be planning a strike on Iranian nuclear facilities at the same time as Donald Trump is attempting to negotiate a peaceful solution with Tehran Israel is reportedly making plans to strike Iranian nuclear facilities, according to intelligence obtained by the United States. Donald Trump has been seeking a diplomatic deal with Tehran over its nuclear programme and so an attack by Israel would likely raise tensions between Israel and the US as well as risking a wider regional conflict in the Middle East. The Trump administration has also been seeking to bring an end to the fighting in Gaza through negotiations in the region. New intelligence revealing proposals for a strike on Iranian nuclear facilities has been reported by CNN, who have cited several US officials. But at the same time it emphasised no final decision had been made on an attack, and it is thought this may depend on how well talks go between the US and Tehran over its nuclear programme. And there wasn't positive news yesterday as Iran's supreme leader pushed back against US criticism of the country's nuclear programme, saying Tehran won't seek permission from anyone to enrich uranium and calling American statements 'nonsense'. 'They say, 'We won't allow Iran to enrich uranium.' That's way out of line,' Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said during a memorial for late President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash last year. 'No one in Iran is waiting for their permission. The Islamic Republic has its own policies and direction — and it will stick to them.' Khamenei's remarks came as indirect talks between Iran and the US reportedly continue, though he expressed doubt about their outcome. 'Yes, indirect negotiations were held during Raisi's time too, just like now,' he said. 'But they didn't go anywhere — and we don't expect much from the current ones either. Who knows what will happen.' His comments reflect Tehran's growing frustration with the stalled nuclear discussions, as well as the broader tensions that have defined US-Iran relations in recent years. Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei told the state-run IRNA news agency that 'no definitive decision has been made about the next round of negotiations', adding that 'the Islamic Republic of Iran is reviewing the matter while considering the US side's contradictory and constantly changing positions.' IRNA also reported that Kazem Gharibabadi, the deputy foreign minister, said Tehran had received a proposal regarding the next round of indirect talks with Washington and was currently reviewing it. And so news that Israel could launch an attack further complicates the situation. Another person familiar with US intelligence on the issue told CNN: 'The chance of an Israeli strike on an Iranian nuclear facility has gone up significantly in recent months. And the prospect of a Trump-negotiated US-Iran deal that doesn't remove all of Iran's uranium makes the chance of a strike more likely.' Concern in the US comes not only from public and private messaging between senior Israeli officials that the country is considering such a move, but also from intercepted Israeli communications and observations of Israeli military movements suggesting an imminent strike. And among the military preparations the US has observed are the movement of air munitions and the completion of an air exercise, two of the sources also told CNN, but there is a possibility that these manoeuvres have been designed as a threat to Iran over potential consequences if a nuclear deal is not reached.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Israel Reportedly Planning to Attack Iran: What to Know
Credit - iStock/Getty Images Amid protracted negotiations between the Trump Administration and Iran over a potential nuclear deal, Israel is preparing a possible strike on Iranian nuclear facilities, multiple U.S. officials told CNN in a Tuesday report. Washington and Tehran have for more than a month been negotiating a diplomatic deal over Iran's nuclear program. An Israeli strike on Iran could upend those efforts and also risk escalating Israel's war in Gaza to a wider conflict in the Middle East. Officials told CNN that it's not yet certain whether or not Israel will decide to ultimately act on its plans, adding that Israeli leaders are likely watching for how the U.S.-Iran deal evolves. The National Security Council, the Israeli Prime Minister's office, and the Israeli Embassy in Washington did not confirm the reports when asked by CNN and Reuters. 'The chance of an Israeli strike on an Iranian nuclear facility has gone up significantly in recent months,' one source familiar with the matter told CNN. 'And the prospect of a Trump-negotiated U.S.-Iran deal that doesn't remove all of Iran's uranium makes the chance of a strike more likely.' Here's what to know. U.S. intelligence reportedly intercepted Israeli communications that suggest a potential strike. That's in addition to apparent military preparations, including the movement of air munitions and the completion of an air exercise by Israel, CNN reported, although those movements could also be an attempt to pressure Iran amid its talks with the U.S. Senior Israeli officials have on multiple occasions signalled that they are considering strikes on Iran. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz posted on X in November: 'Iran is more exposed than ever to strikes on its nuclear facilities. We have the opportunity to achieve our most important goal—to thwart and eliminate the existential threat to the State of Israel.' In February U.S. intelligence agencies warned that Israel will likely attempt a strike on Iranian nuclear facilities this year. 'I think it's more likely they strike to try and get the deal to fall apart if they think Trump is going to settle for a 'bad deal,'' one person familiar with U.S. intelligence told CNN. 'The Israelis have not been shy about signaling that to us … both publicly and privately.' It's unclear, though, to what degree Israel will be able to carry out strikes without support from the U.S., which a source familiar with the Trump Administration told CNN is unlikely to materialize without a major provocation from Iran. Iran's nuclear facilities are deep underground and heavily fortified. An effective attack by Israel would require U.S. assistance for both mid-air refueling and munitions, according to the February intelligence report. President Donald Trump said in February that he wants a 'verified nuclear peace agreement' with Iran, which joint military action with Israel would jeopardize. 'I would like a deal done with Iran on non-nuclear. I would prefer that to bombing the hell out of it,' Trump told the New York Post. 'If we made the deal, Israel wouldn't bomb them.' Trump also reportedly told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on April 7, the same day he announced talks with Iran, that the U.S. opposed military strikes on Iran. Trump told TIME in an April 22 interview that he had not stopped Israel from attacking Iran's nuclear sites but that he 'didn't make it comfortable for them, because I think we can make a deal without the attack. … Ultimately I was going to leave that choice to them, but I said I would much prefer a deal than bombs being dropped.' But, Trump told TIME that he would be 'leading the pack' in a war with Iran if a deal isn't reached. 'It's possible we'll have to attack because Iran will not have a nuclear weapon.' Talks between the U.S. and Iran began on April 12 in Muscat, Oman. U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi have met four times since, with the latest round of negotiations in Oman on May 11. Recent talks have included technical discussions that an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said were 'difficult but useful,' but disagreements remain. The deal will likely involve limits to Iran's nuclear program in exchange for lifting economic sanctions on Iran, officials have said. Trump told NBC on May 4 that he is seeking a 'complete dismantlement' of Iran's nuclear program, which Iran has rejected. Witkoff told ABC News on Sunday that Washington 'cannot allow even 1% of an enrichment capability.' Other Trump officials, including Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, have made conflicting comments on the degree to which the U.S. would require Iran to dismantle its uranium enrichment. Netanyahu has publicly put pressure on the U.S. to push for zero enrichment and a complete dismantlement of Iran's nuclear program. 'This is the clearest sign yet of how high the stakes are in the U.S.-Iran nuclear talks and the lengths Israel may go to if Iran insists on maintaining its commercial nuclear capabilities,' Robert Rennie, head of commodity and carbon research for Westpac Banking Corp, told Bloomberg in reference to the intelligence reports of a potential Israeli strike. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Tuesday that he does not expect talks to 'reach a conclusion' and called the U.S. demand for Iran not to enrich uranium 'excessive and outrageous' and a 'big mistake.' Iran maintains that its uranium enrichment is part of its right to a peaceful nuclear program under the United Nations' Treaty on Nuclear Non-Proliferation. In a mid-March letter to Khamenei, Trump set a deadline of 60 days to reach an agreement, officials told CNN. It's been 60 days since the letter and more than a month since talks began. Talks may continue this week in Europe, Witkoff told ABC News. Iran and Israel have in recent decades been described as 'archenemies.' But it wasn't always that way. Iran was one of 11 members on the U.N. Special Committee on Palestine in 1947 that concerned the future of the Palestinian territory after British control ended. Along with India and Yugoslavia, Iran voted against the U.N.'s partition plan out of concern that it would lead to violence in the region. The three countries instead proposed a federated state of Palestine, which would have kept the territory as a single state but with Arab and Jewish cantons. 'That was Iran's compromise to try to maintain positive relations with a pro-Zionist West and the Zionist movement itself, and also with its Arab and Muslim neighbouring countries,' Oxford historian Eirik Kvindesland told Al Jazeera. Still, in 1950, Iran became the second Muslim-majority country, after Turkey, to recognize Israel as a sovereign state following the first Arab-Israeli War in which Israel broadened its territory beyond the bounds of the U.N.'s plan and forcibly displaced more than 700,000 Palestinians from their homes. At the time, Iran was ruled by Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, the second shah in the Pahlavi dynasty. At the same time, Israel was pursuing its 'periphery doctrine,' under which Israel sought to establish relations with non-Arab states, including Iran and Turkey, to 'end its isolation in the Middle East,' Kvindesland told Al Jazeera. In 1951, however, Iran's new Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh severed ties with Israel as part of an effort to nationalize oil in Iran and push out a British monopoly over the industry. Mosaddegh saw Israel as an extension of Western interests and cutting ties as 'collateral damage,' Kvindesland told Al Jazeera. Mosaddegh was toppled from his seat in a 1953 coup led by the Iranian army and backed by the U.K. and the U.S. In the two decades that followed, Iran's now pro-Western, secular government began a friendly relationship with Israel, including establishing an active Israeli embassy in Tehran in 1960, exchanging ambassadors in the 1970s, and a supply of Iranian oil to Israel. In 1979, the Iranian Revolution led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini overthrew the shah and established the Islamic Republic of Iran. The new leadership brought about a radical shift in foreign policy towards a more pro-Islamic, anti-Western approach—and a reversal of its stance towards Israel. Iran ended diplomatic ties with Israel, rejected Israel's legitimacy as a state, cancelled flight routes and civilian travel between the countries, and turned the Israeli embassy in Tehran into a Palestinian embassy. Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, told Al Jazeera that Iran adopted a 'more aggressive position on the Palestinian issue to brandish its leadership credentials in the Islamic world and to put Arab regimes allied with the United States on the defensive.' The two countries have engaged in proxy conflicts across the region. Iran has backed a 'resistance axis' of groups including Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, as well as groups in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen. Meanwhile Israel has supported groups deemed terrorist organizations by the Iranian government, including Mojahedian-e Khalq and Kurdish armed groups in Iraqi Kurdistan. Iran has blamed Israel for a number of attacks over the years, including alleging that Israel and the U.S. were behind the Stuxnet malware attack on Iranian nuclear facilities in the 2000s, as well as alleging that Israel was behind the 2020 murder of Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh. Israel has accused Iran of a number of cyberattacks and strikes on Israeli-owned oil tankers. After the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, that ignited Israel's war in Gaza, tensions were brought into sharp relief. Iran has remained staunch in its support of Palestinians, early on calling Israel's siege on Gaza an attempt to seek 'genocide.' In the months since, Iran and Israel have engaged in tit-for-tat strikes. In April last year, Iran said an Israeli air strike on an Iranian consulate building in Syria had killed several officials in the Revolutionary Guard Corps. That prompted Iran's first direct attack on Israel, with around 300 missiles and drones targeting sites in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights as well as two airbases—nearly all of which were intercepted without causing damage, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Israel responded with a strike on a missile defence system in Iran's Isfahan region. Iran also blamed Israel for the assassination of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in an explosion in Tehran last July and warned Israel of a 'crushing response' after Israeli strikes killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, as well as a high-ranking Iranian official, in Beirut last September. At the start of October last year, Iran launched more than 180 ballistic missiles at Israel in response to those deaths. Then-President Joe Biden said the attack appeared to have been 'defeated and ineffective.' The U.S. Department of Defense and the IDF said they intercepted a majority of the missiles. Israel carried out airstrikes on military sites in Iran later that month. The October strikes have pushed Iran into its weakest military position in years, while Israel's continued bombardment of Gaza and strikes on Lebanon, Yemen, and Syria have weakened Iran's proxies. At the heart of their escalating tensions is Iran's nuclear program. While Israel is thought to possess clandestine nuclear weapons in its arsenal, it has insisted it will not allow Iran to develop a nuclear bomb. And with a weakened Iran and potentially dissatisfactory U.S.-Iran talks, U.S. officials told CNN, Israel could see more of an opportunity than a risk in attacking Iran. Contact us at letters@
