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Investing.com-- U.S. President Donald Trump will decide on whether the country will directly attack Iran within the next two weeks, the White House said on Thursday, with the president still seeing a path towards nuclear talks with Tehran.
“Based on the fact that there is a substantial chance that negotiations 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,” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a briefing, citing a quote directly from Trump.
Iran and Israel continued to attack each other into the early hours of Friday, as hostilities between the two countries showed few signs of easing after Israel attacked Iran’s nuclear facilities last week.
Focus was squarely on whether the U.S. will become directly involved in the war, with Tehran having repeatedly warned against such a scenario.
Trump had earlier publicly mused about attacking Iran. A host of reports showed that U.S. officials were preparing for such a scenario in the coming days.
Still, Trump has remained largely non-committal towards attacking Iran, especially given heated opposition at home against such a move. The president had earlier this week also floated the possibility of nuclear talks with Tehran, claiming that the Islamic republic was more open to negotiating after being battered by Israeli strikes.
Iran’s nuclear facilities are of particular focus, specifically Fordow, which is Tehran’s largest enrichment facility.
Trump has largely opposed any sort of enrichment activity by Iran, echoing Israel’s claims that the Islamic republic intends to develop a nuclear weapon. Tehran has repeatedly denied the allegations.