Central to the rushed and unanticipated summit at the White House last week between U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was the Islamic Republic of Iran. Although the possibility of a decision to launch military action against Iran’s nuclear facilities was contemplated, it ended with Trump announcing that the United States is engaged in direct negotiations with the Iranian regime.
While other issues, including the hostages still being held in Gaza and the U.S. tariffs, were discussed, it was Iran that was the focus.
Before the summit, the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rejected direct negotiations with the United States last week, and news came out of Tehran that the Islamic regime is speeding up its efforts to build a nuclear bomb. That qualified for summoning Netanyahu to Washington.
In the meantime, Iran’s armed forces have been placed on high alert by Khamenei in response to Trump’s recent threat that “If they don’t make a deal, there will be bombing. It will be bombing the likes of which they have never seen before.”
An Iranian hardline newspaper, Kayhan, seemingly called for Trump’s assassination, writing, “He’s way out of line! Any day now, in revenge for the blood of Martyr Soleimani, a few bullets are going to be fired into that empty skull of his and he’ll be drinking from the chalice of a cursed death.”
“Martyr Soleimani” is a reference to Qassam Soleimani, former head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force, who was killed in a U.S. drone strike during Trump’s first term in office. Also during his first term, Trump walked away from the Iran nuclear deal that President Barack Obama had secured, choosing instead to inflict maximum economic pressure on the Islamic regime.
The ayatollah’s regime views Trump as their greatest obstacle, and there has already been a credible attempt by the regime to assassinate Trump. In November, the U.S. Department of Justice charged three men with planning to kill the then-president-elect on behalf of Iran.
Trump has put clear orders in place: If the Iranians should succeed in assassinating him, Iran will be “obliterated.”
As of now, he seems willing to talk to the regime, and Tehran has caved in and agreed to direct negotiations. Trump has made clear that he prefers a diplomatic solution, in addition to a revised and tough nuclear agreement, which would ensure that Iran won’t be able to produce a nuclear weapon. However, he has also made clear that talks alone does not mean that the military option has been discarded.
Adding credibility to U.S. threats against Iran was the announcement by a spokesperson for the Pentagon that the Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group was joining the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group in the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) area of responsibility. It should also be noted that some B-2 stealth bombers equipped with bunker-busting bombs have been flown to the Diego Garcia Island naval base in the Indian Ocean.
As for Netanyahu, he must have felt disappointed when he left the White House, as he expected that Trump would realize what must be clear to all—that the Iranian regime will not give up its nuclear option since it guarantees the regime’s survival. Netanyahu figured that the assemblage of a huge U.S. force would mean military action.
Even if the Iranians agreed to Trump’s demands and dismantle their nuclear facilities, that would not be the end of the story. All they would have to do is wait another four years for Trump to be out of office, and then, with their know-how, would resume their quest for a bomb. Another U.S. president might just be more amenable to the Iranians.
Netanyahu tried his best to look at the positive side of things. He reasoned that if Trump would give the Iranians a short deadline for the negotiations, say two weeks, that might prevent the ayatollahs from buying time to expedite the completion of the nuclear process to acquire a bomb. And, if the Iranian leadership fails to agree to a new deal, the military option would be ready.
Ultimately, though, the only guarantee that the Islamic Republic will not be an existential threat to Israel, and a danger to the region and the world, is if the oppressive ayatollah’s regime is replaced with a secular and democratic government—one that the Iranian people yearn for.