Trump Has Reportedly Approved Iran Attack Plans But Is Withholding Final Order
As President Trump convenes a White House situation room meeting this Tuesday early evening, and following Ayatollah Khamenei's earlier televised speech vowing 'we will not surrender' – The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Trump has made the decision:
President Trump told senior aides late Tuesday that he approved of attack plans for Iran, but was holding off to see if Tehran would abandon its nuclear program, people familiar with the deliberations said. Iran's well-defended Fordow enrichment facility is a possible U.S. target. Israel has yet to attack the facility, which is buried under a mountain and is generally considered by military experts to be out of reach of all but the most powerful bombs.
Asked earlier if he had decided whether to strike at Iran's nuclear facilities, Trump said, 'I may do it, I may not do it.' And he repeated his insistence of Iran's unconditional surrender: 'The next week is going to be very big, maybe less than a week.'
Is this yet another last ditch effort to strong arm Tehran to the negotiating table, where Trump's hope is that it will declare zero enrichment? Has the US Commander-in-Chief painted himself into a corner, and now it's all zero sum? The Iranians remain under heavy Israeli bombing, and with leadership likely in deep bunkers, are unlikely to negotiate the end of their own 'regime'. Trump may have finally pulled the trigger here. Where's Congress?
Meanwhile, elements of the Right and elements of the Left are uniting around this simple and very reasonable observation…
Netanyahu is not the President of the United States. He should not be determining U.S. foreign and military policy. If the people of Israel support his decision to start a war with Iran, that is their business and their war. The United States must not be a part of it. — Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) June 18, 2025
Things are quickly going from bad to worse for Iran, amid ongoing Israeli airstrikes, and given Iran's air defenses in its western portion of the country appear completely destroyed and disabled.
Iran is now in a 'near-total national internet blackout' – according to monitoring from a UK-based watchdog:
⚠️ Confirmed: Live network data show #Iran is now in the midst of a near-total national internet blackout; the incident follows a series of earlier partial disruptions and comes amid escalating military tensions with Israel after days of back-and-forth missile strikes 📉 pic.twitter.com/Iu598aIMRJ — NetBlocks (@netblocks) June 18, 2025
Vital civic infrastructure in Tehran, including some sewage system and water networks, have also been hit.
* * *
President Donald Trump on Wednesday fielded reporters' questions on the Iran crisis, but refused to answer whether the US military will directly enter the war, amid Israeli requests that the Pentagon assist in striking Iran's nuclear facilities.
'There's a big difference between now and a week ago,' Trump told reporters outside the White House, and added curiously: 'Nobody knows what I'm going to do.'
He indicated that the Iranians had reached out but he feels 'it's very late to be talking.' But he also threw out the possibility: 'We may meet. It's, I don't know, there's a big difference between now and a week ago,' he said on the White House lawn.
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