Trump Considers Initial Targeted Strike Against Iran
Trump has signaled to senior advisers that he would consider broader military intervention in the months ahead if negotiations — and any limited strike — fail to compel Tehran to abandon its nuclear ambitions, the newspaper reported.
US and Iranian negotiators are set to convene Thursday in Geneva in what officials characterized as eleventh-hour talks to prevent armed conflict. The discussions, brokered by Oman, follow earlier sessions held Feb. 6 in Muscat and Feb. 17 in Geneva, with a third round scheduled for Feb. 26 in the Swiss city.
Trump has been gravitating toward authorizing a precision strike within days, intended to send an unambiguous message to Iranian leadership that the capability to produce a nuclear weapon is non-negotiable, according to the report. Targets under active consideration include the headquarters of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, nuclear installations, and components of the country's ballistic missile network.
Should those measures prove insufficient, Trump has indicated willingness to authorize a large-scale military campaign later this year with the explicit goal of removing Iran's ruling leadership, officials told the newspaper.
Some senior administration figures, however, harbor doubts about whether that objective is achievable through air power alone. Earlier contingency plans involving special operations raids on hardened nuclear and missile sites have reportedly been shelved due to the operational hazards involved.
The White House declined to address the president's deliberations directly. "The media may continue to speculate on the President's thinking all they want, but only President Trump knows what he may or may not do," spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in a statement quoted by the newspaper.
Amid the saber-rattling, negotiators from both sides are also examining a potential compromise that could defuse the standoff — one that would permit Iran to sustain a narrowly defined uranium enrichment program restricted to medical research and treatment purposes. Whether Washington or Tehran would ultimately endorse such a framework remains unresolved.
Trump has publicly insisted any deal must produce "zero enrichment" of nuclear material by Iran. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, meanwhile, has maintained that Tehran will not surrender what it regards as its sovereign right under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to produce nuclear fuel — a fundamental tension that continues to stall progress.
The diplomatic maneuvering is unfolding alongside a significant US military buildup in the region. Open-source tracking data confirm two aircraft carrier groups, supported by fighter jets, bombers, and aerial refueling aircraft, are now deployed within striking distance of Iran.
Senior national security figures gathered in the White House Situation Room last week to discuss potential strike scenarios, according to media reports. Those present included Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Joint Chiefs Chairman Dan Caine, and CIA Director John Ratcliffe.
Talks are understood to have centered heavily on Iran's uranium enrichment levels and the scale of its stockpile of highly enriched uranium — the two variables most central to any potential breakthrough or breakdown.
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