Trump Locked In on Getting Iran Nuke Deal
June 30— Sources close to the White House report that despite recent threatening statements about his willingness to launch renewed strikes if necessary on Iran's nuclear facilities, President Donald Trump has authorized no plans for such attacks and instead intends to have a workable negotiated deal in place before the end of the coming month, if not sooner.
Tactical Nukes Off the Table
These sources also report that he has permanently taken off the table the potential use of any tactical nuclear weapons in strikes on Iran, as promoted by some of the more mentally unstable of his pro-Israeli associates, such as U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, and some neo-cons. In addition, when the decision was made last weekend for the U.S. to carry out B-2 bombing raids on two enrichment sites—including Fordow—with bunker-busting 15-ton bombs and sea-launched Tomahawk cruise missiles on a third site, Trump secured what was described as a “firm pledge” from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu that he would not use Israeli nuclear weapons on Iran, a possibility now the subject of wild speculation.
“Trump has no intention of taking any chances that could make the Iran crisis into a wider regional war,” said one source. “He will never authorize American boots on the ground, as had been desired by Bibi for mop-up operations. He has been told by sane elements in the military command that any ground action in Iran is ‘high casualty,’ and he is not about to oversee anything that sends body bags home. It’s Bibi, with his messianic view of Persia as the biblical enemy of Israel, who must be destroyed at all costs, who will try to put things into danger. And then the NATO boys, who Trump distrusts, would beg to come in to help, and you have a deadly forever war.”
Calculated Political Strategy
“Trump believes that in the end,” the source continued, “he can get Bibi to go along with the deal, because it will play better in his coming election campaign.” The sources say Trump was told not to overreact to statements made by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei about how Iran “won” the war and how it could, if it wanted, have a nuclear weapons program—though it does not, by his choice.
“But you can only get so much from the President,” said the source, “and then he will just be Donald Trump. He knows that such statements feed the ongoing power struggle inside Iran in the aftermath of a war that showed it incapable of defending its homeland from relentless air strikes, as its people could see. We have reports of purges, especially in the Revolutionary Guard secondary leadership in the several hundreds, and crackdowns across the country.”
Russia’s Role in Containing Escalation
The President is said to be extremely appreciative of the positive role the Russians are playing in keeping the crisis under control and headed toward a negotiated settlement. Russia did everything to encourage an end to hostilities, even after the U.S. entered the war with its bombing mission, which the Russians rightfully denounced as a violation of international law. However, the Russians refused to send Iran weapons or join in any move to censure the U.S., as Iran had requested, and have, at least for the time being, declined to help Iran rebuild its air defense systems, which it had also requested.
Instead, Russian President Vladimir Putin has responded positively to Trump’s request for help to end the crisis with a fair deal—one the Russians would guarantee and likely further support by providing Iran with below weapons-grade enriched uranium for its robust civilian nuclear program.
It is this cooperation between Putin and Trump which gives the world hope of a possible new global security architecture—one that enables crises such as this to be solved without war, as the Russians have advocated, but which the highly factionalized American establishment has chosen to ignore.
“Trump probably would like to have worked out a deal at the negotiating table that would have rendered the discussion about whether Iran still has nuclear weapons capabilities so much hot air,” said another source. “But he went for what he thought necessary to end the war quickly. And Trump believes that Putin would have preferred a negotiated settlement of his concerns before he was induced by NATO to launch the bloody Special Military Operation in Ukraine in February 2022. And he thinks he would have gone that route had Trump been president then. The hope is that the two leaders could help put such a new architecture in place that eliminates both the attacks on Iran and also the 'special military operation' in Ukraine by Russia.”
Sources in both Washington and the Middle East expect new talks on a nuclear deal between Iran, the United States, and Omani mediators to begin in the next two weeks. In addition, preparations are underway again for a new summit between Trump and Putin, in the near future.