According to a report, President-elect Donald Trump is considering his options for preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, including preventive airstrikes, a departure from the long-standing policy of containing Tehran through diplomacy and sanctions. Some members of his transition team are seriously considering the military strike option against nuclear sites.
The report says that Trump has told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in recent phone calls that he wants to avoid an Iranian breakout during his term in office, but he is looking for a way to prevent the Islamic Republic from going nuclear that does not result in a new war, particularly one in which US troops would be involved.
According to experts and satellite photos obtained by The Associated Press, workers are constructing a nuclear plant on the crest of the Zagros Mountains in central Iran, which is likely outside the range of a last-ditch US missile meant to destroy such sites.
Advisers to the president-elect are mentioning that the concerned economic pressure isn’t enough to contain Tehran and consider military action to dismantle the Iranian Nuclear Programme.
Previously, the President unilaterally withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), loosely called the Iranian Nuclear Deal in 2018. After the withdrawal, Trump exercised the “maximum pressure” policy and put stringent sanctions on Iran to cripple their economy.
The incoming administration is currently working on a “maximum pressure 2.0” plan, according to the report, recreating Trump’s policy of aggressive sanctions on Iran during his first term after withdrawing from the Obama-era agreement with the country to limit its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.
It is true that the US presence in the region is enough to take down any regime in West Asia. At the same time, the fall of Assad Regime, an Iran ally and the demise of Iranian Proxies in the region has cut the long arms of Iran in the region. The decapitation of leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah has already brought the leadership deficit in Iranian Camp. The situation looks much more favourable to the US and its ally Israel. However, eliminating the Iranian Nuclear programme does not look easy. The Iranian Nuclear sites, especially those that produce weapon-grade Uranium deep inside the Iranian Mountains, make it difficult to target and eliminate them.