DONALD Trump pulled back from striking Iran after being warned only a nuke would destroy its key mountain fortress nuclear site, according to reports.
He is said to believe joining Israel’s operation would make sense only if the destruction of the Fordow nuclear plant, dubbed “Mount Doom”, could be guaranteed – but that might require more than conventional bombs.
USAFThere is debate over whether the US’s bunker-buster bombs alone would be enough to destroy the Fordow nuclear plant[/caption]
Donald Trump said he will decide on attacking Iran in two weeksEPA
Shutterstock EditorialThe Iran State Radio and Television (IRIB) building hit by an Israeli strike[/caption]
Trump had looked poised to send US to jets into Iran after reportedly approving the plans in principle, but the White House said on Thursday he would decide in “the next two weeks”.
US defence officials were told that wiping out Fordow, buried up to 300ft beneath rock and steel, would take waves of conventional bombs followed by a nuclear weapon, according to well-placed sources speaking to The Guardian.
Aides are said to disagree on whether the US’s 14-ton “bunker-buster” bombs alone would do the job – and Trump seems unconvinced.
Nuking Iran was never on the cards, and was not one of the options presented by Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, the paper reports.
The Kremlin, one of Iran’s key allies, weighed in to stress that any deployment of US nukes in the country would be a catastrophic development.
Meanwhile, Iran has boasted that it still has the material to make a nuclear weapon – despite Israel decimating a number of its sites.
Iranian commander Mohsen Rezaei said yesterday: “Israel hit Natanz, Isfahan, Khandab, and Arak, but they were already evacuated.
“All the materials have been moved to a safe place.”
But the commander’s claims seem divorced from reality, with shocking satellite pictures showing Iran’s nuclear power plant with a gaping hole after Israeli precision airstrikes.
Announcing the two-week decision time frame, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt again claimed Iran was just “weeks away” from producing a nuclear weapon.
However, the claim is contradicted by American and Israeli intelligence, and nuclear watchdog reports, which assess that Iran “was not weeks away” from obtaining an actual bomb.
Israel said it will not wait for Trump and, if he doesn’t intervene soon, will go it alone in attacking Fordow.
A ground attack on the site would be on a scale never before attempted and involve flying or parachuting in scores of troops and sabotage specialists.
European foreign ministers are expected to turn screws on their Iranian counterpart today to try and de-escalate the conflict.
Ministers from Britain, France and Germany, as well as the European Union’s foreign policy chief spoke to Abbas Araqchi earlier this week and have been coordinating with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
In a rare call, they pressed upon Araqchi the need to return to the negotiating table and avoid further escalation in the spiralling conflict.
At Iran’s suggestion, the two sides agreed to meet face-to-face.
Despite the new, significant European involvement – Iran shows no sign of backing down.
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