WASHINGTON, July 1– U.S. President Donald Trump has decided to stick with diplomatic talks after weighing a return to all-out war with Iran, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing U.S. officials familiar with the matter.
Amid the current diplomatic stalemate, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine have provided options on resuming large-scale airstrikes on Iranian military sites, the officials were quoted as saying.
While the decision is not final, Trump has told his aides he believes another round of full-scale attacks could derail diplomacy and hurt chances of ultimately dismantling Iran’s nuclear program, according to the WSJ report.
Trump said he would allow negotiations with Tehran to extend beyond an Aug. 18 deadline for a nuclear deal, the report said. Publicly, Trump says he retains military options should the talks fall apart.
“They’re agreeing to everything that I want, and they have to,” Trump said earlier. “Otherwise, we just go back and do what we have to do.” Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner arrived in Doha Tuesday for a new round of negotiations, though they only met with mediators instead of their Iranian counterparts.
Indirect technical talks between the two sides were similarly set this week. The United States and Iran are more than a week into a 60-day negotiation period, with key points of contention involving transit fees in the Strait of Hormuz and limits on Tehran’s nuclear program. (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)
