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Outgoing US President Donald Trump wanted to attack Iran last week over the uranium enrichment program, but was dissuaded by advisers, the New York Times reported Monday.
The New York daily reported that Trump discussed the matter in a meeting Thursday, a day after the United Nations, through the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), indicated an increase in Iran’s enriched uranium reserves.
The meeting in the Oval Office was attended by the Vice President, Mike Pence, the Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, the new Acting Secretary of Defense, Christopher Miller, and the Chief of Staff, General Mark Milley.
All dissuaded the president from launching a military attack on Iranian facilities, considering that such aggression “could easily escalate to a broader conflict”, at a time of political uncertainty in the United States.
At the end of the meeting, the attack on nuclear facilities was ruled out, said sources, who asked not to be named, cited by the New York Times.
A military strike, which according to the newspaper could be missile but also cyber, would target Iranian nuclear facilities in the city of Natanz, where IAEA inspectors reported enriched uranium reserves of 2,449 kilograms, well above the ceiling. 300 kilos established in the nuclear pact signed with the great world powers.
Iran began producing higher-purity uranium last year, in violation of the nuclear deal to pressure European countries in response to the United States’ withdrawal from the pact in 2018.
The agreement, signed in 2015, provided for certain limitations to Iran’s nuclear program so that it could not manufacture a nuclear bomb in the short term.
In return, international sanctions against Tehran were lifted, although the United States reinstated punitive measures in 2018, including an oil embargo.
