The US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites over the weekend are the leading topic in the American and British press, writes BTA.
The risk of escalating the conflict and even deeper US involvement in it contradicts Trump's own rhetoric about correcting the mistakes of the past, writes the “Washington Post“.
The specter of the invasion of Iraq hangs over President Donald Trump's decision to launch targeted strikes against Iran over the weekend, the publication notes. Then, as now, the intelligence assessments on which the US strikes were based did not fully match the claims of American politicians, and European governments called for restraint, the newspaper commented.
Trump is likely counting on Tehran to acknowledge its current weakness, but the risk of escalating the conflict is real and runs counter to Trump's campaign promises, as well as the wishes of a large portion of Republican voters, the “Washington Post“ notes.
A day after the US president declared that Iran's nuclear program had been “totally and utterly destroyed“ by US bombs and missile strikes, the actual state of the program appears much more unclear, with senior US officials admitting they do not know the fate of Iran's stockpile of bomb-grade uranium, the newspaper wrote. “The New York Times“, adding that these stocks are now one of the few trump cards in the hands of the Islamic Republic.
It seems increasingly likely that the Iranians, influenced by Trump's repeated threats of military intervention, have moved 400 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60% purity from the Fordow site to a safer place, the newspaper writes.
It is possible that the strikes on the Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan facilities will ultimately only reinforce the view of Iranian leaders that they need nuclear weapons for the regime to survive, the publication concludes.
Against this backdrop, Trump appeared to have begun agitating for a change of leadership in Iran and hinted that “regime change“ would occur if its leaders “fail to make Iran great again”, it writes the British newspaper „Telegraph“.
His comments came just hours after Vice President J.D. Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegsett stressed that Washington was not seeking to overthrow the Iranian government, the publication noted.
The newspaper indicates that senior American officials fear that overthrowing the Iranian regime would lead to a power vacuum and set off another protracted American war in the Middle East.
Meanwhile, the world is bracing for Iran's response after the US attacks, which were the largest Western military assault on the Islamic Republic since the 1979 revolution, the „Guardian“ writes.
From the very beginning of the Israeli strikes earlier this month, Iran has been outwitted and put at a disadvantage, the publication commented. Once fully committed to Israel's side, Trump will have to see the conflict through to the end, and so far Netanyahu has shown himself to be better at starting conflicts than resolving them, the newspaper adds.
Many leaders and diplomats in Europe may secretly hope that Trump's gambit against Iran will fail - not because they sympathize with the Iranian government, but because they fear that the US president's methods are dangerous and violate both the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and international law, the Guardian concludes.