Media: Trump pledges support for Israeli strikes on Iran if diplomacy fails

US President Donald Trump assured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last December that he would support Israeli strikes on Iran’s ballistic missile program if negotiations between Washington and Tehran fail, two sources familiar with the matter told CBS News.

Two months later, CBS News has learned that top US military and intelligence officials are now considering the possibility of supporting another round of Israeli strikes on Iran.

Meanwhile, Axios reported that during a February 11 meeting, Trump and Netanyahu agreed to maintain pressure on Iran despite the resumption of negotiations.

Netanyahu, as CBS and other Middle Eastern media report, remains openly sceptical of diplomacy with Tehran. Speaking at a conference on February 15, the Israeli prime minister said any potential agreement with Iran must include several components critical not only to Israel’s security but to “the security of the entire world.”

“The first is that all enriched material has to leave Iran,” he said, adding, “the second is that there should be no enrichment capability… dismantle the equipment and the infrastructure that allows you to enrich in the first place.”

Netanyahu identified a third component as a resolution on Iran’s ballistic missile program. “There's an MTCR limitation of 300 kilometres, and Iran is supposed to adhere to it. Of course, it doesn't,” the Israeli prime minister stressed.

The fourth component, he stressed, is the cessation and dismantling of the axis of terror built by Iran, which, he added, has been weakened but still exists, while the fifth is real, substantive inspections of all the above.

CBS noted that the issues raised by Netanyahu could push any deal beyond the confines of Iran’s nuclear program.

By Jeyhun Aghazada