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As United States President Donald Trump made an aboriginal exit from the Group of Seven acme successful Canada connected Tuesday, helium told reporters helium believed Iran was “very close” to gathering atomic weapons.
This contradicted US quality reports. On March 25, Trump’s manager of nationalist intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, unambiguously told members of the US Congress that Iran was not moving towards gathering atomic weapons.
“The IC [intelligence community] continues to measure that Iran is not gathering a atomic limb and Supreme Leader [Ali] Khamenei has not authorised the atomic weapons programme helium suspended successful 2003,” she said, referring to a postulation of US spy agencies that collaborate to marque specified assessments.
Trump’s latest remarks besides people a displacement from his presumption connected Iran past period erstwhile helium said the US and Iran were close to securing a woody connected Iran’s atomic programme.
Even implicit the people of the Iran-Israel conflict, which was successful its seventh time connected Thursday, Trump’s presumption connected Iran’s atomic capabilities and whether the US is prepared to get progressive with its struggle with Israel has changed.
Shortly aft Israel attacked Iranian atomic facilities and subject sites connected Friday, Trump medication officials stated that the US was not involved.
Since then, however, Trump has indicated that the US mightiness go progressive successful Israel’s struggle with Iran, leaving allies and adversaries guessing what the adjacent enactment volition be. In particular, Israel wants the US to proviso “bunker buster” bombs, which would alteration its forces to penetrate the Fordow atomic facility, located heavy wrong a upland successful northwest Iran.
On Wednesday, Trump refused to accidental whether the US would articulation the conflict.
“I whitethorn bash it. I whitethorn not bash it. I mean, cipher knows what I’m going to do,” helium told reporters extracurricular the White House.
Later, Trump said Iranian officials wanted to sojourn Washington for talks. He said it is “a small late” for specified talks but “we whitethorn bash that.”
Trump’s wavering stance connected Iran has sparked superior concerns for galore successful his MAGA base, named aft his run slogan, Make America Great Again. Those acrophobic supporters judge US engagement successful a caller warfare goes against Trump’s run committedness of putting America First and of staying retired of conflicts involing others.
[Al Jazeera]Here is however Trump’s presumption has changed since helium moved backmost into the White House successful January:
February: Trump ‘restores maximum pressure’ connected Iran
On February 4, the White House announced that Trump had signed a nationalist information statesmanlike memorandum restoring “maximum pressure” connected Tehran aimed astatine “denying Iran each paths to a atomic weapon, and countering Iran’s malign power abroad”.
Trump made wide that helium was reluctant to endanger unit – angling alternatively for a diplomatic solution via talks.
While the memorandum lacked details connected what “maximum pressure” would entail and hinted that measures could beryllium tough, Trump besides said helium was “torn” and “unhappy” astir signing it and added that helium hoped “it’s not going to person to beryllium utilized successful immoderate large measurement astatine all”.
May 15: Trump says the US and Iran are adjacent to a atomic deal
During his Gulf tour past month, Trump’s diplomatic stance appeared to beryllium holding. Trump said the US had engaged successful “very superior negotiations with Iran for semipermanent peace”. He added that Washington and Tehran had “sort of” agreed to the presumption of a atomic deal.
“We’re getting adjacent to possibly doing a deal. … There [are] 2 steps to doing this: There is simply a very, precise bully step, and determination is the convulsive step, but I don’t privation to bash it the 2nd way,” helium said.
May 17: Trump warns Iran implicit Houthi attacks
Just 2 days aft claiming to beryllium adjacent to a woody with Iran connected atomic weapons, Trump went connected the onslaught connected societal media: “Let cipher beryllium fooled! The hundreds of attacks being made by Houthi, the sinister mobsters and thugs based successful Yemen, who are hated by the Yemeni people, each emanate from, and are created by, IRAN,” Trump wrote.
Tensions had been mounting for months arsenic the Iran-backed Houthis successful Yemen launched attacks connected Israeli-linked shipping successful the Red Sea and on Israel itself implicit Israel’s warfare connected Gaza.
May 28: Trump warns Netanyahu against Iran attack
On May 28, Trump seemed to person reversed this stance again, however, erstwhile helium said helium had told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to clasp off connected immoderate onslaught connected Iran due to the fact that it “would beryllium inappropriate to bash close present due to the fact that we’re precise adjacent to a [diplomatic] solution [on Iran’s atomic status]”.
June 13: Trump medication says US ‘not involved’ successful Iran attacks
After Israel attacked Iran connected Friday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio released a statement, saying: “Tonight, Israel took unilateral enactment against Iran. We are not progressive successful strikes against Iran and our apical precedence is protecting American forces successful the region.”
Rubio added: “Let maine beryllium clear: Iran should not people US interests oregon personnel.”
June 17: Trump calls for Iran’s surrender, calls Khamenei an ‘easy target’
On Tuesday, Trump’s anti-Iran rhetoric switched gears again. He posted connected his Truth Social level successful notation to Iran: “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!”
In different post, helium wrote of Khamenei: “We cognize precisely wherever the alleged ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding. He is an casual target, but is harmless determination – We are not going to instrumentality him retired (kill!), astatine slightest not for now. But we don’t privation missiles changeable astatine civilians, oregon American soldiers. Our patience is wearing thin. Thank you for your attraction to this matter!”
Trump told reporters helium wanted a existent extremity to the contented of whether Iran is processing atomic weapons, which Tehran denies, alternatively than conscionable a ceasefire betwixt Israel and Iran.
The White House released a connection saying Trump has “never wavered successful his stance that Iran cannot beryllium allowed to person a atomic weapon”. The connection listed instances from 2011 done Tuesday erstwhile Trump said Iran should not person atomic weapons.
June 18: ‘I whitethorn bash it. I whitethorn not’
On Wednesday, Trump told reporters asking astir whether the US could go progressive successful the Iran-Israel conflict: “I whitethorn bash it. I whitethorn not bash it. I mean, cipher knows what I’m going to do.”
How has Iran responded?
Iran has insisted its atomic programme is wholly peaceful and for civilian purposes, citing a spiritual edict issued by Khamenei successful the aboriginal 2000s, banning the accumulation of weapons by saying it is forbidden successful Islam.
On Wednesday, Khamenei rejected Trump’s calls for surrender successful his archetypal televised connection since Israel began its attacks connected Iran. “Any US subject involution volition undoubtedly beryllium accompanied by irreparable damage,” Khamenei said.
Iran has moved to uranium enrichment of 60 percent astatine its atomic facilities, adjacent to the 90 percent enrichment needed to marque atomic weapons.
However, similar US quality reports, the United Nations atomic watchdog besides said it has recovered nary grounds of Iranian atomic weapons production. “We did not person immoderate impervious of a systematic effort to determination into a atomic weapon,” said Rafael Grossi, manager wide of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
What stance did Trump instrumentality connected Iran and atomic weapons during his archetypal term?
Tensions were mostly high betwixt Iran and Trump during the US president’s archetypal term:
2018-2019: Tensions aft Trump’s withdrawal from atomic deal
In 2018, Trump announced the US withdrawal from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, a atomic woody signed betwixt Iran and a radical of countries led by the US successful 2015. The radical besides consisted of the European Union, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United Kingdom.
The woody banned uranium enrichment astatine Fordow and allowed lone peaceful improvement of atomic exertion successful Iran for vigor accumulation successful instrumentality for the implicit lifting of sanctions. Iran agreed to refrain from immoderate uranium enrichment and probe into uranium enrichment astatine Fordow for 15 years. It besides agreed not to support immoderate atomic worldly determination but alternatively to “convert the Fordow installation into a nuclear, physics and exertion centre”.
But tensions person been mounting betwixt Iran and the US since then.
In December 2019, a rocket onslaught connected an Iraqi subject basal killed a US contractor and injured respective US work members alongside Iraqi personnel. US officials blamed the Iran-backed Iraqi equipped radical Kataib Hezbollah for the attack.
In the aforesaid month, the US subject retaliated by striking locations belonging to Kataib Hezbollah successful Iraq and Syria.
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Commander-in-Chief Major General Hossein Salami, successful Tehran, Iran, January 3, 2023 [File: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters]2020: The sidesplitting of Soleimani and its aftermath
On January 3, 2020, the US assassinated Qassem Soleimani, the caput of Iran’s elite Quds Force, successful a drone onslaught successful Baghdad. The White House said this was done to deter aboriginal Iranian onslaught plans arsenic it accused Soleimani of “actively processing plans to onslaught American diplomats and work members successful Iraq and passim the region”.
On January 9, 2020, Trump said Soleimani had been killed “because they were looking to stroke up our embassy” successful Baghdad.
The US besides threatened to deed Iranian sites hard if Iran attacked the US oregon its assets. The US has 19 subject sites successful the Middle East, astatine which 40,000 to 50,000 soldiers are stationed.
In March 2020, 3 soldiers belonging to a US-led conjugation were killed successful a rocket onslaught astatine the Taji subject basal lodging US and conjugation troops adjacent Baghdad. The US imposed a caller acceptable of sanctions connected Iran.
On June 29, 2020, Tehran issued an arrest warrant for Trump and respective of his aides implicit Soleimani’s killing.
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