Exclusive; Trump's Transition Government: All Options Regarding Iran Are on the Table

Donald Trump's transition team stated on Friday, December 14, to the Persian section of Voice of America that all options are on the table to address Iran's nuclear program. Brian Hughes, spokesperson for Trump's transition team, responded to a question from Farhad Poladi, a reporter for the Persian section of Voice of America, regarding a Wall Street Journal report that the Trump administration has military options to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions, saying: "The Trump administration is committed to restoring peace and stability in the Middle East." He added that Donald Trump will keep "all options regarding the Iranian regime, including maximum pressure, on the table." The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Trump's transition team is considering various options to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, including the option of a "preventive airstrike." According to the Wall Street Journal, some members of Trump's transition team, who are assessing the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime, the future of American forces in the region, and the destruction of Hamas and Hezbollah as two proxy groups of the Iranian government, are seriously considering military action against Iran's nuclear facilities. The American newspaper quoted members of Trump's transition team as saying that Iran's weakened position and recent reports about its increasing nuclear activities have sparked sensitive internal discussions. They stated that all discussions on this matter are still in the early stages. The Wall Street Journal quoted two informed individuals as saying that Trump has expressed concern about Iran's nuclearization in recent communications with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, indicating that he is seeking proposals to prevent this issue from materializing. According to the report, Trump is looking for plans that would prevent the outbreak of war in the Middle East, as an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities could lead to direct war between the U.S. and Iran. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency's criteria, about 42 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60% is sufficient to produce a nuclear bomb if further enriched. Iran currently has more than four times this amount of 60% enriched uranium and significantly larger quantities of lower-enriched uranium. The Wall Street Journal quoted informed sources as saying that the transition team of the elected president of the United States is currently designing a new version of the "maximum pressure" policy. Four informed individuals from discussions among Trump's transition team stated that two general options have been raised in these discussions. The first option involves sending more military forces, fighter jets, and ships to the Middle East, and selling advanced weapons to Israel, including bunker buster bombs for a potential attack on Iran's nuclear facilities. According to this option, a combination of threats of military action and crippling economic sanctions may force the Iranian regime to accept the diplomatic solution proposed by the U.S. to address this regime's nuclear crisis. The second option is based on threatening military force while simultaneously imposing crippling sanctions to compel the Iranian government to accept the U.S. diplomatic solution for resolving the Iranian nuclear dispute. The publication of the Wall Street Journal report comes as Trump recently did not rule out the possibility of war with Iran in an interview with Time magazine, and in response to the magazine's question about the Iranian regime's plot to assassinate him and the possibility of war between the U.S. and Iran during his second presidential term, he stated twice: "Anything can happen." The Wall Street Journal quoted some of Trump's aides and confidants who favor military options, stating that the main idea is to support Israeli attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities such as Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan, and even participate in a joint operation. A member of Trump's transition team described the Iranian government as the "head of an octopus" and said that to confront Iran's proxy groups in the Middle East, the regime's access to financial and military resources must be curtailed. During his first presidential term, Donald Trump ordered the attack that resulted in the death of Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, as part of the "maximum pressure" policy in 2019. He had previously exited the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2018 and reimposed U.S. economic sanctions against the Iranian regime that had been reduced following this agreement.