“Iran has proven to be capable of using its legitimate military might to prevent or respond to any melancholy adventure from any aggressor. Trump's withdrawal from #JCPOA & his cruel sanctions have not changed the peaceful nature of Iran’s peaceful (nuclear) program,” Miryousefi tweeted Tuesday in reaction to a New York Times report alleging that US President Donald Trump has asked for options on attacking an Iranian nuclear site.
Citing four current and former US officials on Monday, The New York Times reported that Trump asked senior advisers in an Oval Office meeting on Thursday whether he had options to take action against Iran’s main nuclear site in the coming weeks. A range of senior advisers dissuaded the president from moving ahead with a military strike, said The New York Times, adding that the advisers — including Vice President Mike Pence; Secretary of State Mike Pompeo; Christopher C. Miller, the acting defense secretary; and Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff — warned that a strike against Iran’s facilities could easily escalate into a broader conflict in the last weeks of Trump’s presidency.
The American publication also claimed that any strike — whether by missile or cyber — would almost certainly be focused on Natanz, where the International Atomic Energy Agency reported on Wednesday that Iran’s uranium stockpile was now 12 times larger than permitted under the nuclear accord that Trump abandoned in 2018.
US administration officials told The New York Times that after Pompeo and General Milley described the potential risks of military escalation, officials left the meeting believing a missile attack inside Iran was off the table.
However, the American publication claimed that the US president might still be looking at ways to strike Iranian assets and allies, including groups in Iraq.
