Trump gives Iran 15 days to reach an agreement under threat of attack

Washington / BarcelonaMeeting in Washington with his Gaza Peace Council, Donald Trump has once again threatened Iran. "You cannot continue to threaten the stability of the entire region and you must reach an agreement [on the nuclear program]. If this does not happen, there will be serious consequences," the president warned Tehran. He added, "You will probably find out within the next 10 days." The president issued the cryptic warning with the entire US naval fleet already positioned in the Strait of Hormuz, ready to launch a possible attack against the ayatollahs' regime. Shortly afterward, aboard Air Force One en route to Georgia, the Republican extended the deadline to 15 days as the "maximum time." "We are going to get a deal one way or another," he told reporters.

The fleet is very similar to the one the Pentagon used to besiege Venezuela before its military intervention. Most of the ships, including the aircraft carrier USS Abraham LincolnThey are now in a position to launch an attack against the ayatollahs' regime. Gerald FordThe USS Iraniba, another of the largest aircraft carriers in the US arsenal, is sailing toward the region after leaving the Caribbean, where it participated in the kidnapping of Nicolás Maduro. "We must do something about Iran: they cannot have nuclear weapons. It's very simple. You can't have peace in the Middle East if they have nuclear weapons," the president argued. Two days earlier, his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, had met with Iranian officials in Geneva. Upon leaving the meeting, the ayatollahs asserted that A general understanding had been reached, but many loose ends remained to be tied up.

The lack of concrete results in the Geneva talks seems to have frustrated the White House, as yesterday, at the daily press briefing, spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt indicated that there are "many reasons and arguments for an attack against Iran," although she maintained that diplomacy is still diplomacy. In fact, in recent days the White House itself had expressed optimism about the talks, and Trump had even gone so far as to say they were going "very well."

Plot twist

Trump's rhetorical and military shift is significant compared to last week. The US president signaled his willingness to pursue negotiations after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Zionist He had urgently traveled to Washington to try to get his partner to reinstate the option of a possible attack against the ayatollahs' regime.whose existence he considers an existential threat to the Israeli state. It seemed he had not achieved his objective, since upon leaving, Trump wrote to Truth Social that he had let Netanyahu know that the diplomatic route would be his "preference, if anything."

During his visit, Netanyahu also wanted to ensure that Trump did not forget Israel's interests. Tel Aviv is concerned not only about the Iranian nuclear program but also about the ballistic missiles it is developing. In this respect, it seems that Netanyahu did succeed because now Washington is not satisfied with just the nuclear issue but also wants to curb the ballistic missile program and even bring about regime change. Trump made this clear last weekend when he said that "the best thing that could happen" in Iran would be regime change and the end of the Islamic Republic created in 1979. The Iranian Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, has refused to relinquish power, and the regime also rules out negotiating the ballistic missile issue.

While Trump publicly told Netanyahu that he wanted to continue negotiating, the Pentagon was already pulling the aircraft carrier away. Gerald Ford to send it toward the waters of the Arabian Sea. Over the past few days, flight tracking data shows dozens of combat aircraft, including F-16 fighters, being deployed to the area.

Over the next few days, the Pentagon will be temporarily relocating some of its personnel out of the Middle East region, primarily to Europe and the US, as a preventative measure against possible Iranian actions or counterattacks, according to officials cited by CBS. However, this is a common move during times of military tension. It does not necessarily imply that an attack is imminent, but it is further evidence that the possibility of an intervention is real.