President Trump stunned Israeli officials by shutting down their plans to bomb Iran’s nuclear sites.
Sources close to the matter tell The New York Times that Israel had developed plans for strikes as early as May, aiming to delay Iran’s nuclear weapons capability by at least a year. However, the operation would have required significant American assistance to protect Israel from Iranian counterattacks.
Trump convened his top advisers for a Situation Room meeting on Iran, bringing together officials from both sides of a growing policy divide.
Vice President J.D. Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly lead those favoring diplomacy, arguing military action would put American troops at risk and potentially trigger damaging oil price spikes.
Deeply skeptical about Iranian intentions and the possibility of a meaningful agreement, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and Secretary of State Marco Rubio head the opposing faction. Senators Lindsey Graham and Tom Cotton also believe Iran should be pressured to completely dismantle its nuclear program.
In the end, Trump chose diplomacy, which irked Prime Minister Netanyahu during his White House visit earlier this month.
“The president kind of relished sticking it to him on Iran. The same dynamic you saw in public is what happened in private,” one official tells Axios. “Trump and Bibi see things very differently on the issue of a military strike in Iran.”
Last Saturday, U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff met with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Oman, marking the first high-level contact between the countries during either of Trump’s terms. Officials from both nations described their 45-minute discussion as productive, with another round scheduled for this weekend, likely in Rome.
Despite authorizing negotiations, Trump has imposed a two-month deadline for reaching an agreement, though exactly when this countdown begins remains unclear.
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