Republican President Donald Trump called for options for destroying Iran's Natanz plant, Iran's main nuclear facility, last week, but finally decided not to take that dramatic step, the government official said. of yesterday Monday.
Trump made the call during a meeting last Thursday with top national security aides, including Vice President Mike Pence, new Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller, and U.S. Secretary of Defense General Mark Millie. , according to the official.
His version is in line with that published by The New York Times, according to a report in which Trump aides persuaded him not to launch an attack on the Islamic Republic, citing the risk of a much wider armed conflict.
"It simply came to our notice then. "They presented the scripts to him and finally decided not to proceed," the official explained.
The White House declined to comment on the official statement or the Times article.
During his four years in office, Trump has pursued an extremely aggressive policy toward Iran. It has withdrawn the United States from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (CIS), the international agreement on the Islamic Republic's nuclear program negotiated by Barack Obama's Democratic predecessor, before imposing sweeping economic sanctions on Tehran.
Trump, who is challenging the outcome of the November 3 US presidential election, is due to hand over power to Democratic President-elect Joe Biden on January 20.
The review of the military options came a day after a report by the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Iranian authorities had completed the transfer of a first set of advanced centrifuges from an underground facility in Natanz to underground. is a new violation of the terms of the COSD.
Moreover, the 2,4 tons of low enriched uranium that Tehran now has stored is a quantity many times the limit of the agreement (202,8 kg). It produced 337,5 kg in the last quarter, less than the 500 kg recorded by the IAEA in the previous two quarters.
Earlier this year, Trump ordered a US airstrike in Baghdad that killed Qassem Suleimani, a top Iranian general.
However, he later avoided choosing a broader confrontation, while assuring that he wants to withdraw US troops from international hotspots, fulfilling his promise to end what he calls "endless wars".
A possible US attack on Iran's nuclear plant in Natanz could trigger a wide-ranging regional armed conflict and bring Biden face huge foreign policy challenges.
Joe Biden's team - the president-elect - still has no access to classified US intelligence because of Trump's refusal to acknowledge his defeat and begin the process of handing over power - declined to comment.