The White House said yesterday that President Donald Trump will make a decision on whether the US will get involved in the Israel-Iran conflict in the next two weeks.Citing a message from Trump, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters: “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.”Leavitt told a regular briefing that Trump was interested in pursuing a diplomatic solution with Iran, but his top priority was ensuring that Iran could not obtain a nuclear weapon.She said any deal would have to prohibit enrichment of uranium by Tehran and eliminate Iran’s ability to achieve a nuclear weapon.“The president is always interested in a diplomatic solution …he is a peacemaker in chief. He is the peace through strength president. And so if there’s a chance for diplomacy, the president’s always going to grab it,” Leavitt said. “But he’s not afraid to use strength as well I will add.”Leavitt declined to say if Trump would seek congressional authorisation for any strikes on Iran. She said Washington remained convinced that Iran had never been closer to obtaining a nuclear weapon.“Iran has all that it needs to achieve a nuclear weapon. All they need is a decision from the supreme leader to do that, and it would take a couple of weeks to complete the production of that weapon,” she said.Israel bombed nuclear targets in Iran yesterday and Iran fired missiles and drones at Israel after hitting an Israeli hospital overnight, as a week-old air war escalated and neither side showed any sign of an exit strategy.
