US President Donald Trump issued a “final ultimatum“ to Iranian leaders to suspend their nuclear program, but to journalists last night he indicated that he has not yet made a final decision on whether to strike Iran and possibly involve Washington in a new conflict in the Middle East, the “Washington Post“ reports, BTA reported in the press review.
During his election campaign, Trump promised to end wars, not start new ones, and in the first months of his term he tried to find a diplomatic path to limit Iran's nuclear program, the newspaper indicates.
According to the American president, however, Iran has not shown interest in voluntarily limiting its nuclear capabilities. And the conditions for a successful strike on Iran's nuclear facilities are now better than they have been in decades - against the backdrop of the more than 20-month-long war in the Gaza Strip and large-scale Israeli strikes against "Hezbollah" and Iran, Israel has weakened the defenses of Tehran and its allies, putting the Islamic Republic in an extremely weak position, notes the "Washington Post".
The British newspaper "The Telegraph" cites an analysis examining Trump's leadership style by business strategy expert Julius Kirimi Sindi, according to which the president is not so much a manager as a negotiator.
It is not the first time the US president has deliberately made ambiguous comments, leaving friends and foes to guess what his true intentions are, the newspaper notes.
His final decision could be the most important one he will make during his term, writes the “Telegraph“. If Trump joins Israel in attacking Iran with American B-2 heavy strategic stealth bombers carrying bunker-busting bombs, it could prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons, but it could also provoke attacks on US interests in the Middle East and lead to the collapse of the president's MAGA movement, as some Republicans do not want Washington to intervene in wars abroad, the newspaper commented.
Trump has been informed that the 13-ton "GBU-57" bomb, dropped by a B-2 strategic bomber, could destroy Iran's nuclear facility at Fordow, located deep under the mountain, but he was not completely convinced of this and has postponed giving approval for possible strikes, as he expects the threat of such a US intervention to force Iran to the negotiating table, the newspaper wrote. “Guardian“, citing sources in the US administration.
The newspaper points out that the effectiveness of the “GBU 57” bomb has been the subject of fierce debate in the Pentagon since the beginning of Trump's term, and according to two US defense officials, only a tactical nuclear weapon could destroy the Fordow facility due to the depth at which it is located.
A number of military experts believe that a strike with a conventional bomb would probably only delay Iran's ability to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons for several years to come, but would not end the program completely, the “Guardian“ commented.
However, even if the operation itself is successful, the greatest dangers may lie in its consequences, just as happened in Afghanistan and Iraq, the newspaper writes. „New York Times“.
Iranian leaders, as well as any other state actors with the knowledge and capabilities to develop nuclear weapons, would probably learn a lesson from such a development - that they must acquire a nuclear bomb as quickly and secretly as possible, the newspaper commented.
North Korea did this and now has 60 or more nuclear weapons, despite the United States trying for years to stop it through diplomacy and sabotage, the „New York Times“ points out. That is an arsenal large enough to ensure that North Korea's opponents will think seriously about whether they can afford to carry out an operation of the type that Israel is now carrying out against Iran, the newspaper concludes.