Iran–Israel War

R

rj1

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 19, 2008
Messages
1,235
Location
Indiana

Trump told Netanyahu he still wants to defuse Iran crisis with talks, not bombs​



President Trump told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in their Monday phone call that he believes there's a chance of reaching a nuclear deal with Iran and he therefore opposes military action at this time, an Israeli official and a U.S. official tell Axios.

Why it matters: The call between Trump and Netanyahu took place several days before the expiration of the two-month deadline Trump gave Iran for reaching a deal.

  • Iranian officials have been finalizing their response to the U.S. nuclear deal proposal, and are expected to deliver a formal rejection this week.
  • A sixth round of nuclear talks between White House envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is expected to take place in Oman on Sunday.
Behind the scenes: During their 40-minute phone call on Monday, Netanyahu told Trump that the Iranians are experts at stalling and therefore must be presented with a credible military threat, the sources said.

  • "Trump did not sound convinced by this reasoning," the Israeli official said.
  • Trump told Netanyahu the Iranians are "stubborn," and he's frustrated with their behavior, but he thinks they can be convinced to make a deal and wants to see what happens in the next round of talks, the officials said.
  • Several Israeli media outlets also reported on aspects of the conversation.

State of play: Testifying Tuesday before the House Armed Services Committee, outgoing CENTCOM commander Gen. Erik Kurilla said an Israeli strike on Iran would expose U.S. forces in the Middle East to the threat of Iranian retaliation.

  • However, he said he'd provided Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth "with a wide range of options" for military action if talks fail.
  • On Sunday, Trump and virtually his entire top foreign policy team huddled in Camp David for hours to discuss U.S. strategy on the Iran nuclear crisis and the war in Gaza.
  • A senior U.S. official told Axios the president sees both crisis as intertwined and part of a broader regional reality he is trying to shape.
Click to expand...
 
Officer of Engineers said:
Israel launches ‘preemptive strikes’ against Iran, Defense Minister says
Click to expand...
Should the thread title be changed to "Israeli-Gazan/West Bank/Lebanese/Yemeni/Syrian/Iranian War of 2023-25" ? It would be more accurate.

Our Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee at about 2:30ish in the morning Israeli time tweeted: "At our Embassy in Jerusalem and closely following the situation. We will remain here all night. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!" Public reports of the strikes came 30 minutes later.

Imagine Trump is pissed, although what does that mean in reality? The U.S. is stating "no involvement or assistance" FWIW.

CNN's correspondent on the ground in Israel from an Israeli government official source familiar with the planning saying "this is not a one-day attack".
 
Last edited:
Take this all with grains of salt:

-Channels I'm on saying explosions being reported in Iraq (Tikrit and Kirkuk).
-Senior Israeli leaders transferred to safe location and signed NDA's on the attack.

Not with grain of salt:

Barak Ravid (very well sourced on Israel side) saying on CNN that Israel believes they eliminated the entire Iranian general staff and several nuclear scientists.
 
Iranian State Media reporting the IRGC Chief was killed. The top adviser to Khamanei was not killed but critically injured.

Not much administration reaction other than Rubio putting out an official Secretary of State statement saying Israel did this by themselves. Apparently the Israelis have noticed the statement and put out there they and the U.S. are on the same page and the U.S. agreed with them on the matter.

Trump having a NSC meeting at the White House tomorrow at 11am eastern U.S. time. Imagine we won't find out much from the American side until then. The Americans and Iranians were supposed to be meeting in Oman Saturday...
 
I've been critical of Netanyahu for some time now in my head. He seems to think he can act without impunity and that the U.S. will back him up no matter what he does. Personally I am all for letting him sink or swim on this one alone no matter what Iran does. Trump, of course, is the wild, wild card in the deck.
 
tbm3fan said:
I've been critical of Netanyahu for some time now in my head. He seems to think he can act without impunity and that the U.S. will back him up no matter what he does. Personally I am all for letting him sink or swim on this one alone no matter what Iran does. Trump, of course, is the wild, wild card in the deck.
Click to expand...
If I was Prime Minister of Israel, I would reach the same conclusion.
 
rj1 said:
Should the thread title be changed to "Israeli-Gazan/West Bank/Lebanese/Yemeni/Syrian/Iranian War of 2023-25" ? It would be more accurate.
Click to expand...
The Israeli strikes on Iran should be its own thread.
 
Last edited:
Looked like Iranian missile strikes on Tel Aviv.

2nd wave of Iranian missiles outgoing according to Iran
 
Seriously though, what options does Iran have to retaliate? Most of their missiles will be intercepted by the Israeli iron dome so any damage they can achieve will be limited.

They can try messing with the global economy by attacking shipping in the straits of Hormuz but that risks intervention by the US and other gulf states.

Maybe they can try and race to the bomb, but what good will one nuclear weapon do them even they have the means to deliver it? Israel does have enough nukes to wipe Iran off the map.

I don't see any good options for the Iranian regime here other than hunker down and try to survive.
 
InExile said:
Seriously though, what options does Iran have to retaliate? Most of their missiles will be intercepted by the Israeli iron dome so any damage they can achieve will be limited.

They can try messing with the global economy by attacking shipping in the straits of Hormuz but that risks intervention by the US and other gulf states.

Maybe they can try and race to the bomb, but what good will one nuclear weapon do them even they have the means to deliver it? Israel does have enough nukes to wipe Iran off the map.

I don't see any good options for the Iranian regime here other than hunker down and try to survive.
Click to expand...
When a country by fact declares war on you, you don't really have the option to not go to war unless you unconditionally surrender.

As far as what to do, maybe a war of assassins targeting politicians, spies, military leaders, leave the civilians alone (concept of war from the Dune universe)? In conventional military terms, Israel is better than Iran because they're friends with us, richer, and buy our stuff, so if you were Iran you need to find a war footing where the sides become more even. If you make the war more personalized and smaller in scale, the technology advantage is shrunk quite a bit which is part of why guerilla warfare works. Israel can't even cry foul, because they did targeted killings in their first wave of attacks.

Of course to do this, Iran needs to have people on the ground in Israel and other countries that Mossad and friendly intelligence agencies are not aware of and can outperform Mossad. Tough ask. But politicians speaking generally can be pretty sloppy on their personal security.
 
Last edited:
rj1 said:
If I was Prime Minister of Israel, I would reach the same conclusion.
Click to expand...
I love Netanyahu's speech where he said he had nothing against the people of Iran but only the government. We'll one sure way to get people united and behind that government is to attack their country. Absolute genius of Netanyahu. Iran has what? Somewhere in the thousands of ballistic missiles. Maybe shut down Hormuz. Iran has options.

I also expect Netanyahu not to stop until he feels their facilities are destroyed. I hope Iran doesn't hit any US assets which would mean a definite response by us.
 
Last edited:
tbm3fan said:
I love Netanyahu's speech where he said he had nothing against the people of Iran but only the government. We'll one sure way to get people united and behind that government is to attack their country. Absolute genius of Netanyahu. Iran has what? Somewhere in the thousands of ballistic missiles. Maybe shut down Hormuz. Iran has options.

I also expect Netanyahu not to stop until he feels their facilities are destroyed. I hope Iran doesn't hit any US assets which would mean a definite response by us.
Click to expand...
I think Netanyahu goes for regime change
 
Last edited:
Why would the U.S. even need to join their war? Iran has been exposed as a paper tiger. A few precision strikes have seemingly decimated their command structure and their air defense. Their only hope is that Iran wages a protracted insurgency, but Iran as a nation-state/military-industrial complex has been exposed as a house of cards in comparison to Israel, which is more akin to a tiny Russia than an AntiIran.
 
The big picture: Israel lacks the bunker buster bombs and large bomber aircraft needed to destroy Iran's Fordow uranium enrichment site, which is built into a mountain and deep underground. The U.S. has both within flying distance of Iran.
Click to expand...
 
TrumpCentrist said:
Why would the U.S. even need to join their war? Iran has been exposed as a paper tiger. A few precision strikes have seemingly decimated their command structure and their air defense. Their only hope is that Iran wages a protracted insurgency, but Iran as a nation-state/military-industrial complex has been exposed as a house of cards in comparison to Israel, which is more akin to a tiny Russia than an AntiIran.
Click to expand...
Insurgency? I'm not sure you know what this word means.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top