Wall Street Journal: Trump Considering Attack on Iran's Nuclear Facilities

The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, December 13, that the transition team of Donald Trump, the elected President of the United States, is examining various options to prevent the Iranian government from accessing nuclear weapons, including the option of a "preemptive airstrike." The Persian section of Voice of America has contacted Trump's transition team regarding this matter and will inform its audience as soon as a response is received. According to the Wall Street Journal, some members of Trump's transition team, who are evaluating 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 the option of a military attack on the Islamic Republic's nuclear facilities. This American newspaper cited members of Trump's transition team, stating that the weakened position of the Iranian government and recent reports about its increasing nuclear activities have sparked sensitive internal discussions on this matter. They noted that all discussions are still in the early stages. The Wall Street Journal quoted two informed sources, adding that Trump has expressed concern about the nuclearization of the Islamic Republic in recent calls with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, indicating that he is seeking proposals to prevent this issue from materializing. According to the report, Trump is calling for plans that would prevent the outbreak of war in the Middle East, as an attack on the Islamic Republic's nuclear facilities could lead to direct war between the United States and the Iranian government. According to the criteria of the International Atomic Energy Agency, about 42 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60% would be sufficient to produce a nuclear bomb if further enriched. The Iranian government currently possesses more than four times this amount of 60% enriched uranium and significantly larger quantities of lower-enriched uranium. The Wall Street Journal quoted informed individuals stating that the transition team of the elected President of the United States is currently working on a new version of the "maximum pressure" policy. Four informed individuals from discussions among members of 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 weaponry to Israel, including bunker-buster bombs for a potential attack on the Iranian government's nuclear facilities. According to this option, a combination of military attack threats and crippling economic sanctions may force the Islamic Republic to accept the diplomatic solution proposed by the United States to address this government's nuclear crisis. The second option is also based on the threat of military force while simultaneously imposing crippling sanctions to compel the Iranian government to accept the diplomatic solution proposed by the United States to resolve the Islamic Republic's nuclear dispute. The publication of the Wall Street Journal report comes as Trump recently did not rule out the possibility of war with the Iranian government in an interview with Time magazine, stating twice in response to questions about the Iranian government's conspiracy to assassinate him and the possibility of war between the United States and the Iranian government during his second presidential term: "Anything can happen." The Wall Street Journal, citing those aides and confidants of Trump who favor military options, added that the main idea is to support Israeli attacks on the Islamic Republic's nuclear facilities such as Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan, and even to participate in a joint operation. A member of Trump's transition team described the Iranian government as the "head of the octopus," stating that to confront the Iranian government's proxy groups in the Middle East, the government's access to existing financial and military resources must be curtailed. Donald Trump, during his first presidential term and within the framework of the "maximum pressure" policy, ordered the attack that resulted in the death of Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, in 2019. He had previously exited the nuclear agreement (JCPOA) in 2018 and reimposed U.S. economic sanctions against the Islamic Republic that had been reduced following this agreement.