Trump sends mixed signals on Iran strikes with ceasefire hint
Donald Trump deepened uncertainty about his readiness to join Israel's weekold war with Iran, signaling he might consider backing a ceasefire but also warning that he could order military action sooner than the deadline he flagged just a day earlier.
"I'm giving them a period of time,' the U.S. president told reporters in New Jersey, after meeting earlier Friday with his national security team. "I would say two weeks would be the maximum.'
He dismissed European efforts to find a diplomatic solution after foreign ministers from the U.K., France and Germany met their Iranian counterpart in Geneva Friday.
After stepping up threats against Iran early this week, Trump appeared to dial back tensions Thursday, saying that he would hold off for two weeks to give diplomacy a chance. Israel, which has vowed to destroy Iran's missile and nuclear programs, has continued strikes as Iran launched further retaliation.
Even as he hinted at shortening the deadline for his ultimatum, Trump also suggested he "might' support a ceasefire while talks were underway. Iran has demanded the attacks stop before it enters negotiations, something Israel has refused to do.
"I might, depending on the circumstances,' the president said when asked if he'd back a halt to fighting to allow negotiations. But he questioned whether such a truce would be possible. "Israel's doing well in terms of war, and I think you would have to say that Iran is doing less well. It's a little bit hard to get somebody to stop.'
European diplomats made little apparent headway in their meeting Friday, appealing to Iran to come to the table.
"We are keen to continue ongoing discussions and negotiations with Iran and we urge Iran to continue their talks with the U.S.,' U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy told reporters after the meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. "This is a perilous moment and it's hugely important that we don't see regional escalation of this conflict.'
Araghchi said Iran is ready to hold another meeting with the Europeans in the near future, the state-run IRNA news agency reported. But he warned that progress can't be expected without a halt in the conflict. "As long as the attacks continue, we will not negotiate with any party,' he said.
No follow-up meeting has yet been scheduled and there was no agreement on where or in what format such talks would take place, according to a European official.
Before a 2-month-old negotiation process with the U.S. was suspended in the wake of Israel's attack, Tehran had signaled its willingness to accept some restrictions on its enrichment activities. Israel and the U.S. have said the Islamic Republic shouldn't be allowed to enrich uranium at all.
Trump played down the European diplomatic efforts. "Iran doesn't want to speak to Europe. They want to speak to us,' he said. "Europe is not going to be able to help them.'
Trump also said Israel lacks the ability to destroy all of Iran's nuclear facilities on its own.
Most experts say a successful strike against the subterranean nuclear enrichment site at Fordo would require American participation, since Israel doesn't have the kind of munitions — like the most powerful bunker-buster bombs — with the ability to penetrate that deep underground. But there's a debate on the issue, with some claiming Israel has the necessary tools.
"They really have a very limited capacity,' Trump said. "They could break through a little section but they can't go down very deep. They don't have that capacity.' And the president added: "Maybe it won't be necessary.'
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi leaves after a meeting on Tehran's nuclear program with European officials at the Intercontinental Hotel in Geneva on Friday. |
AFP-JIJI
Trump repeated his stated belief that Iran was a matter of weeks from getting a nuclear bomb when Israel attacked, and again dismissed U.S. intelligence findings that Iran's leadership wasn't seeking to do so.
Israel's top diplomat claimed Israeli strikes had already set back Iran's progress toward a nuclear bomb.
"According to the assessment we hear, we already delayed for at least two or three years the possibility for them to have a nuclear bomb," Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said in an interview published Saturday.
Saar said Israel's weeklong onslaught will continue. "We will do everything that we can do there in order to remove this threat," he told German newspaper Bild.
Oil prices fell on Friday following a report that Iran is ready to discuss limitations on uranium enrichment, though they're still up significantly from before the conflict.
Israel launched its surprise attack on Iran last week, saying the threat of its sworn enemy acquiring nuclear weapons had to be neutralized. Iran responded with waves of missiles and drones of its own, and there have been heavy casualties on both sides.
Trump has publicly mused for days about the U.S. joining the fray, but appeared on Thursday to have taken a step back after a run of tough rhetoric, including demands for Tehran residents to relocate and threats toward Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Israel's military said Friday it staged fresh strikes on dozens of targets, hitting missile-production sites and the Tehran headquarters of the nation's internal security unit and the research and development arm of Iran's nuclear-weapons program. General Staff Chief Eyal Zamir said his forces are prepared for a "prolonged campaign.'
Israel's fire services meanwhile said missiles landed Friday in the Tel Aviv area and the south of the country. Three people were injured seriously.
Iran's Foreign Ministry said in a post on X that an Israeli attack on a Red Crescent ambulance in Tehran killed three medical personnel on Friday. So far, four medical centers in Iran, including a children's hospital, have been hit by Israel, according to the semi-official Mehr News agency. Israel earlier this week said Iran struck a hospital in the country's south.
A U.S.-based NGO, the Human Rights Activists News Agency, provided a toll on Friday based on its sources and media reports, saying at least 657 people have been killed in Iran, including 263 civilians.
Since Israel launched its offensive on June 13, targeting nuclear and military sites but also hitting residential areas, Iran has responded with barrages which Israeli authorities say have killed at least 25 people.
Banks, cinemas, and cultural centers in Tehran were set to partially reopen from Saturday, according to officials — a tentative step toward restoring daily life. However, a dayslong internet and phone blackout appeared to remain largely in effect, with many citizens still cut off from international platforms and websites.
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Yomiuri Shimbun
2 hours ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
From ‘Evacuate Tehran' to ‘Two Weeks': Behind Trump's Shift on Iran
Four days after President Donald Trump abruptly left a summit of global leaders in Canada, calling on civilians to 'evacuate Tehran' and stoking global talk of war, the president on Friday said he still wanted more time to decide. Trump said he was waiting to see 'whether or not people come to their senses.' He also would not commit to calling for a ceasefire as negotiations continue. Speaking to reporters as he headed to his New Jersey golf club for a fundraiser for his super PAC, the president reiterated the threat posed by Iran's nuclear program but said he was 'not going to talk about' what a hypothetical U.S. response would look like. Indeed, besides a brief gaggle after exiting Air Force One, Trump spent much of the day Friday trying to shift public attention to anything but Iran. He and his White House team posted on social media about the need to pass his One Big Beautiful Bill. Trump called for a special prosecutor to investigate the 2020 election, posted repeatedly about the charges that the Justice Department under President Joe Biden had brought against him and wrote that he expected a federal settlement with Harvard University soon. In recent days, a relentless battle for Trump's ear has swirled around the president. As he often does, Trump has picked up the phone for – and received advice from – prominent voices pushing opposing views, according to people with knowledge of his conversations who, like others in this story, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the president's process. The advice – some solicited, others not – from prominent donors, right-wing media figures and elected officials played on Trump's own conflicting impulses on Iran. On the one side, Trump resolutely has stuck to his long-held belief that Iran must be stopped from developing a nuclear weapon. On the other, he has tried to avoid war – an approach that is a major element of his political movement. On Thursday, Trump responded as he often has when faced with difficult options: He bought himself time, declaring that he would wait up to two weeks to make a decision. So far, those cautioning the president to avoid authorizing a strike – and holding out for diplomatic negotiations – appear to be breaking through. On Thursday, Trump had lunch with Stephen K. Bannon, his former adviser who remains a leading voice among the hard-line MAGA wing of the Republican Party. Bannon arrived at the White House after skipping the 11 a.m. hour of his two-hour morning show, 'War Room.' He opened the first hour by decrying the faux 'urgency' that pro-Israel hawks were pressing upon Trump. Bannon and Jack Posobiec, a right-wing influencer who joined 'War Room' on Thursday morning, likened those speaking to Trump and advocating for a U.S. attack on Iran to used car salesmen, who make an 'upsell' by telling buyers that they only have limited time to decide. Bannon has been excoriating Rupert Murdoch and the hosts on his Fox network, accusing them of fomenting war talk. Shortly after Trump's lunch with Bannon drew to a close, press secretary Karoline Leavitt stepped onto the podium in the White House press briefing room to read a statement she said was 'directly from the president.' The message was that Trump was going to let negotiations play out longer. '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 instructed Leavitt to read. The statement had already been in the works before the lunch with Bannon, according to a person with knowledge of the day's events. But Trump's meeting with Bannon at the White House was notable, at a time when the former adviser has been particularly outspoken as a leader of the MAGA movement's anti-intervention faction. A day earlier, Charlie Kirk, the influential right-wing commentator and another skeptic about an attack, had also visited Trump at the White House, according to two people with knowledge of the meeting, which has not been previously reported or publicly acknowledged by Kirk. The 31-year-old activist has emphasized to his millions of followers that he trusts Trump's instincts, while insisting that getting involved in fighting against Iran could lead to a war that is much more drawn out than the U.S. intends. Anna Kelly, a White House spokesperson, said in a statement that 'President Trump has never wavered in his stance that Iran cannot obtain a nuclear weapon and repeated that promise to the American people during and after his successful campaign. The President is a great foreign policy mind who listens to many perspectives, but ultimately makes the decisions he feels are best for the country.' The drumbeat of MAGA opposition to the U.S. joining Israel in its conflict with Iran stands in contrast to the chorus of hawkish Republicans urging Trump to strike and even seek regime change. That opposition has been complemented over the past two days by European efforts to negotiate with Iran. A Friday meeting in Geneva of the top diplomats of Iran, Britain, France, Germany and the European Union ended with no breakthrough, with the Europeans pressing Iran to agree to limits on its nuclear program and the Iranian delegation saying it would not negotiate until Israel stops its strikes. They agreed to keep talking. Referring to the meeting in Geneva, a White House official told The Washington Post on Friday that the president 'supports diplomatic efforts from our allies that could bring Iran closer to taking his deal.' Trump had a more downbeat assessment. When asked how effective the European talks were, he told reporters on the New Jersey tarmac that 'Iran doesn't want to speak to Europe. They want to speak to us.' 'Europe is not going to be able to help on this one,' he said. Trump also said for the second time this week that his director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, was 'wrong' in her assessment in the spring that there was no evidence Iran was building a nuclear weapon. His position on Friday, however, still revealed interest in letting the diplomatic process play out, whether it's with Europe or the United States, and Trump reiterated that U.S. officials have 'been speaking with Iran.' Steve Witkoff, Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, did not travel to Geneva for the talks, Leavitt told The Post, but has remained in 'correspondence' with Iranian officials. That willingness to continue talks stood in contrast to the sense of urgency Trump had telegraphed at the start of the week. On Monday night, as the president prepared to leave the Group of Seven summit in Canada to return to the White House earlier than planned, pro-intervention voices were pushing the president to seize the moment. They advised him to not only take out Iran's nuclear facilities but also its government. Trump, meanwhile, posted on social media instructing people to 'evacuate Tehran,' and he told reporters on Air Force One that he wanted to see a 'real end' to the problem. That night, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) appeared on Sean Hannity's Fox News show and called for Trump to 'be all in' to help Israel take on Iran, asking, 'Wouldn't the world be better off if the Ayatollahs went away and were replaced by something better? Wouldn't Iran be better off?' A day earlier on the same network, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said it would be in the U.S.'s interest to 'see regime change' in Iran. Trump arrived back in Washington near 5 a.m. Tuesday. Later in the day, he met with advisers and reviewed options for an attack. That evening, he told aides that he was okay with the potential attack plans he had reviewed but that he was holding off on giving final approval to see if Iran would budge. By Wednesday, Trump expressed annoyance as he was asked by reporters about his thinking on Iran, mocking one such question by suggesting he should tell reporters when he would be bombing Iran so they could be there to watch. He offered glimpses into his thinking throughout the day, however, telling The Post he had issued the 'ultimate ultimatum' to Iran, but conceding that he had not yet made up his mind whether to strike. On Wednesday afternoon, he held another meeting with advisers in the White House Situation Room. By Thursday, however, the focus had shifted to attempts at negotiations with Iran. British Foreign Secretary David Lammy met with Witkoff and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington to coordinate ahead of Lammy's participation in Friday's talks in Geneva. And in a call Thursday evening between Rubio and France's minister for Europe and foreign affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot, the two men discussed the Europeans' planned approach and agreed to follow up after the Friday meeting to continue coordinating on negotiations, according to a French diplomat. As he stood on the tarmac of Morristown Municipal Airport on Friday, Trump told reporters he wasn't sure how long he would allow the negotiations to continue with Iran. 'We're going to see what that period of time is, but I'm giving them a period of time,' Trump said. 'And I would say two weeks would be the maximum.'
Yomiuri Shimbun
2 hours ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Europeans Press Iran on Nuclear Curbs, but Geneva Talks Yield No Breakthrough
GENEVA – European foreign ministers pressed their Iranian counterpart on Friday for curbs to Tehran's nuclear program, but the high-stakes meeting in Geneva yielded no quick off-ramp from the conflict in which President Donald Trump is threatening to bomb Iranian nuclear sites. Hours of talks at a luxury hotel ended without a breakthrough, officials said, even as all the ministers came out declaring their readiness to keep talking. The clock is ticking, though: Trump has set a two-week deadline to decide whether the United States will join Israel in the military campaign it launched last week vowing to cripple Iran's nuclear sites. Trump on Friday said that 'two weeks would be the maximum.' Washington is now in a standoff with Tehran over whether Iran should be allowed to enrich uranium at all, even for civilian purposes. 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On Friday, the Europeans – French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul and the European Union's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas – gathered at the German Consulate in Geneva, where they conferred around a table on an outdoor terrace. They met with Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, later Friday afternoon. 'Regional escalation benefits no one, and that's why we need to keep the discussions with Tehran open,' Kallas told reporters after the meeting. Trump's wavering and his two-week deadline opened a small window for the diplomatic bid by the Europeans – who share Washington's insistence that Iran must not obtain a nuclear weapon. The meeting was coordinated with Washington, four officials familiar with the planning said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomacy. 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He suggested Friday without elaborating that the Iranians appeared ready to make concessions that previously were not on the table. But Araghchi said Iran's defense capabilities, an apparent reference to ballistic missiles, were 'nonnegotiable.' France, Germany, Britain and the E.U. were central to negotiations that resulted in the landmark 2015 deal to contain Iran's nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief under the Obama administration. After Trump abandoned the deal and reimposed U.S. sanctions, Iran gradually increased the quality and quantity of its enriched-uranium production. The Europeans would be instrumental in enforcing a new deal, including at the International Atomic Energy Agency, the global nuclear watchdog. Trump mostly shut out the Europeans when he came into office again this year and instead kick-started negotiations with Iran, which included promises of peace until the Israeli strikes began last week. 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Israeli fighter jets continued the blitz on Iran overnight Thursday and throughout Friday, attacking sites linked to Iran's missile systems and dozens of targets in Tehran, including a weapons research center, the Israeli military said Friday. Israel's Army Radio reported that Israel assassinated an Iranian nuclear scientist, bringing the number of Iranian scientists Israel claims to have killed since it launched the conflict last week to at least 11. During an Iranian barrage Friday, some missiles broke through Israel's vaunted air defenses and hit near government buildings by Haifa's port, injuring about 31 people, a hospital said. Iranian strikes hit sites in central and southern Israel, including a building bearing the logo of a military cyberdefense training center in Beersheba. The intensifying strikes and threats have also triggered a diplomatic scramble in the Middle East, where Iran and Israel's neighbors are rattled by the prospect of an widening war. Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi visited Paris on Thursday and described European talks with Iran as important for 'protecting the region.' Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty spoke with Trump envoy Steve Witkoff for the second time in a week and separately with Araghchi, urging them to 'utilize the available diplomatic channels' to halt the hostilities, the Foreign Ministry said Friday. – – – Parker reported from Cairo. Natalie Allison and Nilo Tabrizy in Washington, Lior Soroka in Tel Aviv, Victoria Bisset in London and Suzan Haidamous in Beirut contributed to this report.
Japan Times
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- Japan Times
Trump confirms Republic of Congo-Rwanda peace deal, gripes about Nobels
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