logo
Trump will decide on Iran attack ‘in the next two weeks,' White House Says

Trump will decide on Iran attack ‘in the next two weeks,' White House Says

Al Etihad8 hours ago

20 June 2025 00:45
(The New York Times)US President Donald Trump said Thursday he will decide whether the United States will attack Iran "within the next two weeks,' adding in a statement released by the White House that "there's a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future.'For days, Trump had mused publicly about the possibility of ordering US forces to bomb Iranian nuclear sites, suggesting that strikes could be imminent, while also insisting that it was not too late for talks. With his comments Thursday, he appeared to opt for some breathing room to consider options that carry a lower risk of escalation.Karoline Leavitt, the White House Press Secretary, said Steve Witkoff, the president's special envoy to the Middle East, has maintained correspondence with Iranian officials. She declined to provide any further details. Iran pulled out of talks with US officials about a nuclear deal after Israel began its attacks last Friday.
Leavitt said any nuclear deal with Iran would have to include a ban on enriching uranium and block Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Stocks struggle, oil up for 3rd week as Trump weighs US action on Iran
Stocks struggle, oil up for 3rd week as Trump weighs US action on Iran

Zawya

time35 minutes ago

  • Zawya

Stocks struggle, oil up for 3rd week as Trump weighs US action on Iran

SYDNEY - Share markets in Asia struggled for direction on Friday as fears of a potential U.S. attack on Iran hung over markets, while oil prices were poised to rise for a third straight week on the escalating Israel-Iran conflict. Overnight, Israel bombed nuclear targets in Iran, and Iran fired missiles and drones at Israel as a week-old air war intensified with no sign yet of an exit strategy from either side. The White House said President Donald Trump will decide in the next two weeks whether the U.S. will get involved in the Israel-Iran war. The U.S. President is facing uproar from some of his MAGA base over a possible strike on Iran. Brent fell 2% on Friday to $77.22 per barrel, but is still headed for a strong weekly gain of 4%, following a 12% surge the previous week. "The 'two-week deadline' is a tactic Trump has used in other key decisions, including those involving Russia and Ukraine, and tariffs," said Tony Sycamore, analyst at IG. "Often, these deadlines expire without concrete action, (similar to TACO), and there is certainly a risk of this happening again, given the complexities of the situation." Still, a cautious mood prevailed in markets with Nasdaq futures and S&P 500 futures both 0.3% lower in Asia. U.S. markets were closed for the Juneteenth holiday, offering little direction for Asia. The MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged up 0.1% but was set for a weekly drop of 1%. Japan's Nikkei slipped 0.2%. China's blue chips rose 0.3%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.5%, after the central bank held the benchmark lending rates steady as widely expected. In the currency markets, the dollar was on the back foot again, slipping 0.2% to 145.17 yen after data showed Japan's core inflation hit a two-year high in May, which kept pressure on the Bank of Japan to resume interest rate hikes. Investors, however, see little prospects of a rate hike from the BOJ until December this year, which is a little over 50% priced in. The U.S. bond market, which was also closed on Thursday, started trading in Asian hours on a subdued note. Ten-year Treasury bond yield was flat at 4.389%, while two-year yields slipped 2 basis points to 3.925%. Overnight, the Swiss National Bank cut rates to zero and did not rule out going negative, while the Bank of England held policy steady but saw the need for further easing and Norway's central bank surprised everyone and cut rates for the first time since 2020. Gold prices eased 0.2% to $3,363 an ounce, but were set for a weekly loss of 2%. (Reporting by Stella Qiu Editing by Shri Navaratnam)

European, Iranian diplomats to meet as US mulls joining Israel campaign
European, Iranian diplomats to meet as US mulls joining Israel campaign

Khaleej Times

timean hour ago

  • Khaleej Times

European, Iranian diplomats to meet as US mulls joining Israel campaign

[Editor's Note: Follow the KT live blog for live updates on the Israel-Iran conflict.] European foreign ministers will hold talks Friday with their Iranian counterpart, hoping to reach a diplomatic solution to the war with Israel as US President Donald Trump mulls the prospect of US involvement. Israel, claiming Iran was on the verge of developing a nuclear weapon, launched air strikes against its arch-enemy a week ago, triggering deadly exchanges. Sirens sounded in southern Israel on Friday morning after missiles were launched from Iran, the Israeli army said. It earlier warned people in Iran's northern industrial area of Sefidrood to evacuate ahead of Israeli strikes. European leaders urging de-escalation have scrambled to hold talks with Iran, as Trump said he would decide "within the next two weeks" whether to involve the United States in Israel's bombing campaign. Stay up to date with the latest news. Follow KT on WhatsApp Channels. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will meet with his French, German, British and EU counterparts in Geneva on Friday to discuss Iran's nuclear programme. Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy said "a window now exists within the next two weeks to achieve a diplomatic solution", after meeting senior US officials in Washington on Thursday. Lammy and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio "agreed Iran can never develop or acquire a nuclear weapon", according to the State Department. Netanyahu welcomed the prospect of US involvement in its campaign, while Russia, an Iranian ally, told the United States that joining the conflict would be an "extremely dangerous step". The UN Security Council is also due to convene on Friday for a second session on the conflict, which was requested by Iran with support from Russia, China and Pakistan, a diplomat told AFP on Wednesday. While Netanyahu has not publicly said that Israel is trying to topple Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, defence minister Israel Katz warned after the strike on Israel's Soroka hospital that Khamenei "can no longer be allowed to exist". A week of deadly exchanges between the two countries has plunged the Middle East into a new crisis, more than 20 months into the war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Panic Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has sworn Iran will "pay a heavy price" for a strike on an Israeli hospital on Thursday, an attack Tehran said was targeting a military and intelligence base. Soroka hospital's director Shlomi Codish said 40 people were wounded in the strike that destroyed several wards. World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom hebreyesus called attacks on health facilities "appalling", while UN rights chief Volker Turk said civilians were being treated as "collateral damage". In Iran, people fleeing Israel's attacks described frightening scenes and difficult living conditions, including food shortages and limited internet access. "Those days and nights were very horrifying... hearing sirens, the wailing, the danger of being hit by missiles," University of Tehran student Mohammad Hassan told AFP, after returning to his native Pakistan. "People are really panicking," a 50-year-old Iranian pharmacist who did not want to be named told AFP at a crossing on the border with Turkey. Iran imposed a "nationwide internet shutdown" on Thursday -- the most extensive blackout since widespread anti-government protests in 2019 -- internet watchdog NetBlocks said. The shutdown "impacts the public's ability to stay connected at a time when communications are vital", NetBlocks wrote on X. Any US involvement in Israel's campaign against Iran would be expected to involve the bombing of a crucial underground nuclear facility in Fordo, using specially developed bunker-busting bombs. The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump told aides he had approved attack plans but was holding off to see if Iran would give up its nuclear programme. The US president had favoured a diplomatic route to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons -- an ambition Tehran has consistently denied -- seeking a deal to replace the 2015 agreement he tore up in his first term. Dozens of US military aircraft were no longer visible at a US base in Qatar on Thursday, satellite images showed -- a possible move to shield them from potential Iranian strikes. Nuclear sites White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed Iran was "a couple of weeks" away from producing an atomic bomb. Iran had been enriching uranium to 60 percent -- far above the 3.67-percent limit set by the 2015 deal, but still short of the 90 percent needed for a nuclear warhead. Israel has maintained ambiguity on its own arsenal, but the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute says it has 90 nuclear warheads. A key Iranian government body, the Guardian Council, threatened a "harsh response" if "the criminal American government and its stupid president... take action against Islamic Iran". On Thursday, Israel said it struck "dozens" of Iranian targets overnight, including the partially built Arak nuclear reactor and a uranium enrichment facility in Natanz. Iranian atomic energy agency chief Mohammad Eslami confirmed in a letter to the UN nuclear watchdog that the Arak reactor was hit, demanding action to stop Israel's "violation of international regulations". Iranian media reported blasts in Tehran late Thursday, while the Revolutionary Guards said more than 100 "combat and suicide" drones were launched at Israel. In the central Israeli city of Bat Yam, the body of a woman was found in a site hit on Sunday, taking the death toll in Israel from Iranian missiles since June 13 to 25 people, according to authorities. Iran said Sunday that Israeli strikes had killed at least 224 people, including military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians.

Trump to decide on US action in Israel-Iran conflict within two weeks
Trump to decide on US action in Israel-Iran conflict within two weeks

Dubai Eye

time3 hours ago

  • Dubai Eye

Trump to decide on US action in Israel-Iran conflict within two weeks

The White House said on Thursday that President Donald Trump will make a decision on whether the US will get involved in the Israel-Iran conflict in the next two weeks. Citing a message from Trump, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters: "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." Leavitt told a regular briefing that Trump was interested in pursuing a diplomatic solution with Iran, but his top priority was ensuring that Iran could not obtain a nuclear weapon. She said any deal would have to prohibit enrichment of uranium by Tehran and eliminate Iran's ability to achieve a nuclear weapon. "The president is always interested in a diplomatic solution ...he is a peacemaker in chief. He is the peace through strength president. And so if there's a chance for diplomacy, the president's always going to grab it," Leavitt said. "But he's not afraid to use strength as well I will add." Leavitt declined to say if Trump would seek congressional authorization for any strikes on Iran. She said Washington remained convinced that Iran had never been closer to obtaining a nuclear weapon. Israel bombed nuclear targets in Iran on Thursday and Iran fired missiles and drones at Israel after hitting an Israeli hospital overnight, as a week-old air war escalated and neither side showed any sign of an exit strategy. Leavitt said Trump had been briefed on the Israeli operation on Thursday and Iran would face grave consequences if it did not agree to halt its work on a nuclear weapon. Trump has kept the world guessing on possible US involvement in the war, veering from proposing a swift diplomatic solution to suggesting the US might join the fighting. On Wednesday, he said nobody knew what he would do.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store