Donald Trump is expected to decide within the next two weeks whether the United States will enter into a conflict with Iran. According to the New York Post, citing sources, the U.S. President is approaching the idea of bombing Iran with caution, in part because he fears that overthrowing the government in Tehran could turn Iran into “another Libya.” Trump is also reportedly seriously considering the potential response from the Iranian side.
Trump “doesn’t want it to turn into Libya,” said one insider familiar with the administration’s deliberations on potentially joining Israel’s airstrikes against Iran’s nuclear program.
In recent days, the President has begun referencing the situation in Libya, where chaos ensued following the 2011 ousting and killing of dictator Muammar Gaddafi, according to three sources close to the administration.
“Trump doesn’t want Iran to turn into Libya,” one source familiar with internal discussions in the administration told the New York Post, referring to potential U.S. involvement in Israeli strikes on Iran’s nuclear program. According to one of the sources, Trump has also mentioned the situations in Afghanistan and Iraq in this context.
The day before, Axios reported, citing presidential advisers, that Trump has yet to make a final decision on launching an attack on Iran. He is reportedly weighing whether bunker-busting bombs would be capable of destroying Iran’s underground nuclear facility.
American officials have stated that Trump wants to be certain that such an attack is truly necessary, would not draw the United States into a prolonged conflict in the Middle East, and, above all, would actually contribute to achieving the objective of dismantling Iran’s nuclear program.
Europe Warns Trump
One source cited by the New York Post noted that Trump is also taking into account the possibility of an Iranian response and “would prefer to negotiate a deal.”
During a Thursday briefing, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt quoted the President as saying he would make a decision on whether to go to war with Iran within the next two weeks.
According to Daily Telegraph sources, officials from the United Kingdom and other European countries have warned the Trump administration that an attack on Iran could prompt Tehran to activate “sleeper cells” to carry out terrorist attacks across Europe.
Such an attack could also endanger the lives of foreign nationals detained in Iran. According to the Daily Telegraph, these include two British citizens who were arrested in February and charged with crimes against national security. In recent years, at least 15 individuals with ties to the UK have been detained in Iran and accused of espionage.