(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Donald Trump privately confessed to White House officials that he might abandon his push for a nuclear agreement with Iran as he searches for a way out of the war, according to a new report.
Trump has told senior aides in recent weeks that he could accept an outcome in which Tehran fully reopens the Strait of Hormuz without reaching a broader deal over its nuclear program, U.S. officials told The Wall Street Journal.
The apparent shift would significantly scale back one of the administration’s central demands since diplomatic negotiations began in April, that Iran be prevented from obtaining a nuclear weapon as part of any wider settlement.
Instead, Trump is reportedly increasingly focused on reopening the strategically vital waterway, where Iranian missile and drone attacks have disrupted commercial shipping and driven up global energy prices.
According to The Journal, Trump has argued privately that Iran is unlikely to be capable of rebuilding its nuclear program during his presidency after the U.S. destroyed three major nuclear sites last year. He has also suggested U.S. intelligence would detect efforts to rebuild the facilities or secretly develop a bomb, while the threat of further U.S. strikes could deter Tehran.
If Iran’s nuclear ambitions can effectively be contained and shipping resumes through Hormuz, Trump would be more likely to extend the current ceasefire indefinitely, officials said.
But Iran has complicated Trump’s search for an off-ramp with sweeping new demands for reopening the strait, the outlet reported. Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said Washington would have to permanently end the war, withdraw U.S. forces, lift sanctions and the naval blockade, release frozen Iranian assets and pay war reparations, according to Iranian state media.
The demands came as Trump unloaded threats of strikes and also repeatedly suggested an agreement was close. He told reporters in recent days that a deal was “imminent” and on Friday shared an article declaring “Donald Trump Won the Iran War.”
Trump also publicly played down concerns surrounding Iran’s buried uranium stockpile, telling attendees at July’s NATO summit: “We’ve already got the nuclear material, because it’s so far underground… Nobody’s going to be able to get it except us.”
The political pressure for an exit is growing as November’s midterm elections approach and Americans continue to face elevated fuel costs.
The post Trump Privately Confesses He May Drop Top Iran War Objective to Get Out of Conflict: Report first appeared on Mediaite.
