US President Donald Trump stated on Thursday that he will decide whether to attack Iran within the next two weeks due to a “substantial” likelihood of negotiations, as Israel and its regional adversary exchanged fire for the seventh day.
Karoline Leavitt, White House Press Secretary, presented a message from Trump during a briefing, saying there had been “a lot of speculation” about whether the US would be “directly involved.”
“Based on the fact that there’s a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks,” Trump said in the statement.
Leavitt did not give details of what had led Trump to believe that negotiations with Iran were possible.
On Wednesday, Trump said Iran had sought to bring officials to the White House to negotiate a deal on its nuclear program and stop the conflict with Israel. Iran denied that it would do so.
When asked if Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff had spoken with Iran’s foreign minister, Leavitt stated that “correspondence has continued” between the two countries.
But she claimed she was “not tracking” that Witkoff would travel to Geneva for discussions with Iran.
The US president met for the third time in three days in the White House’s highly secure Situation Room on Thursday, as he considered whether to join Israel’s bombing operation.
When asked if he would take military action against Iran, the US president stated “I may do it, I may not do it” on Wednesday.
