President Trump continues to consider options with Iran amid ongoing diplomatic efforts this week and a continued buildup of U.S. military presence in the Middle East.
The President was briefed by Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and his son in law, Jared Kushner, Wednesday on the outcomes of talks in Geneva with Iran, as well as trilateral talks with Russia and Ukraine, according to a senior U.S. official.
The President is continuing to weigh his options for next steps with Iran, and has not made up his mind at this point, according to a U.S. official.
“There's many reasons and arguments that one could make for a strike against [Iran,]” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.
While diplomacy is “always his first option,”Leavitt said “Iran would be very wise to make a deal with President Trump and with this administration.”
While officials noted progress made in the talks with Iran hosted by Oman in Switzerland Tuesday, Leavitt said “we're still very far apart on some issues.”
The Iranians are expected to return detailed proposals “to address some of the open gaps in our positions” in the next two weeks, according to a US official.
“And so the President will continue to watch how this plays out,” Leavitt said.
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The U.S. has sought to keep Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, while Trump suggested ahead of the talks he wanted no enrichment. The Iranians have denied seeking a nuclear weapon, though the IAEA ahead of the US’ June strikes reported Iran was producing uranium enriched up to 60 percent.
Vice President JD Vance suggested Iran was not willing to work through some redlines, though did not characterize the specific ones.
“We would very much like, as the president said, to resolve this through a conversation and a diplomatic negotiation, but the president has all options on the table. And one thing about the negotiation I will say this morning is that you know, in some ways it went well. They agreed to meet afterwards. But in other ways, it was very clear that the president has set some red lines that the Iranians are not yet willing to actually acknowledge and work through. So we're gonna keep on working it, but of course, the president reserves the ability to say when he thinks that diplomacy has reached its natural end,” Vance told Fox News in an interview Tuesday.
Iran characterized the outcome of the talks as an agreement on “guiding principles.”
"We managed to reach a general agreement on a number of guiding principles, based on which we will move forward from now on, and start working on text for a possible agreement,” Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi told Iranian state TV Tuesday following the talks, while cautioning that it “does not mean that we can quickly reach an agreement.”
But in the backdrop of discussions, military pressure appears to build as the US has increased assets in the region, sending a second carrier strike group.
Iran issued a notice to airmen warning that it’s planning rocket launches Thursday according to the Federal Aviation Administration’s website tracking such flight advisories, after announcing through its state news agency plans for joint exercises with Russia Thursday and conducted navy drills in the Strait of Hormuz earlier in the week.
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Meanwhile, Sec. of State Marco Rubio is planning to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the Iran deliberations, according to a US official.
Rubio will meet with Netanyahu February 28th in Israel, according to a state department official.
Ahead of the indirect talks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he shared skepticism of a deal with Iran with President Trump following a meeting between leaders the week prior.
Netanyahu said Trump “is determined to exhaust the possibilities of achieving a deal which he believes can be achieved now because of the circumstances that have been created, the force projection, and the fact that, as he says, Iran will surely understand that they missed out last time, and he thinks there's a serious probability that they won't miss out this time.”
Netanyahu has underscored Israel’s desire for a deal to include enriched material to be moved from Iran, no enrichment capability, to address Iran’s ballistic missile program and its support for proxy groups.