U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the United States may need to strike Iran again and that he was only an hour away from deciding on an attack before postponing the operation.
“I was an hour away from making the decision to go today,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
Trump said Iran’s leaders were “begging” to make a deal, but warned that a new U.S. attack could take place in the coming days if no agreement is reached.
“Well, I mean, I’m saying two or three days, maybe Friday, Saturday, Sunday, something, maybe early next week, a limited period of time, because we can’t let them have a new nuclear weapon,” he said.
The remarks came a day after Trump said he had postponed planned strikes on Iran by “two or three days” at the request of Gulf leaders, while seeking an agreement before any renewed military action.
Trump prefers a deal to renewed fighting, though not at any price. For that reason, any delay in a strike is now seen by him as a necessary move, even if it projects weakness and confusion to the Iranians.
If Trump fails to reach an agreement with Iran, the repeated delays could also increase his legitimacy at home and abroad. In effect, Trump can present himself as the one seeking an agreement and trying to prevent war, while arguing that Iran continued pushing toward renewed fire.
Some officials have suggested Trump may be trying to mislead Iran by delaying the strikes, but senior officials believe there is little advantage in that, since Tehran has no ability in any case to prevent an effective strike on any site. The ayatollahs’ regime can respond wildly and cause regional and global economic damage, but it will not be able to stop attacks aimed at it.
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Was only an hour away from deciding on an attack
(Photo: Hans Rosenkranz, Marinetraffic.com, U.S. Navy, AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, REUTERS/Eva Marie Uzcategui)
In practice, Tehran is not exactly helping Trump climb down from the tree on this issue, and may be almost forcing him to strike. The latest delay shows the American president is in a dilemma, perhaps even distress. Given the number of threats he has issued in recent days, the announcement that he was delaying the strike at the request of Arab leaders shows he is in no rush to attack, and Iran understands that immediately.
At the same time, Trump’s conduct may also be worrying, since he could settle for any Iranian concession and present it as a victory ahead of ending the war.
In Israel, many still believe the chances of a strike are higher than the chances of successful negotiations. The Iranians are digging in and showing no flexibility in the talks, at least not outwardly, and a few more days are not expected to change that. They are not willing to give up the nuclear program, and Trump cannot settle for less.
One Israeli official said that even now, if Iran again rejects the U.S. president’s proposal, it is far from certain that Trump will attack. “With Trump, nothing is certain,” he said.
Another Israeli official added, “With Trump, there is no logic, mainly because it is Trump. In Trump’s view, the delay actually projects strength, goodwill and perhaps another attempt to persuade the Iranians.”
Israel, meanwhile, is preparing for all possibilities and understands that, in the end, everything is in Trump’s hands. It is preparing for a possible resumption of U.S. fighting, while Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar’s departure Tuesday evening at the head of a delegation for a diplomatic visit to the Czech Republic may indicate that Israel understands an American strike will not happen immediately.
First published: 18:01, 05.19.26