With Iran weakened but not defeated, Israel pushes Trump to prioritize deterrence over deal
Israel and the United States agree on preventing a restart of Iran's nuclear program, but otherwise differ in their preferred policies toward Tehran.
TEL AVIV — Since the end of the 12-day war against Iran in late June, both Israel and the United States have issued explicit or implied threats of renewed strikes if Tehran resumes work on its nuclear program, but their perspectives on how to handle Iran in the long term differ. Meanwhile, Iran, according to Israeli sources is plotting revenge attacks.
In comments this week, US President Donald Trump described Iran as "behaving badly," "not speaking nicely," "not saying the right things" and again referred to its nuclear program as "decimated."
Trump also said, "They can start again. If they do, we'll wipe it out faster than you can wave your finger at it."
It is unclear whether Trump's threats stem from specific plans for possible action or are designed to deter the Islamic Republic and bring it back to the negotiating table for talks on a new nuclear agreement. Trump has not stated publicly whether US intelligence assesses that the Islamic Republic has sought to restore its damaged nuclear sites or has started new construction. His next move will likely rest at least in part on updated assessments of the damage inflicted on Iranian centrifuges and enriched uranium and the remaining threat level to Israel and the West.
