Online Reporter
The Trump administration was on Friday preparing for a fresh round of military strikes against Iran, according to sources with direct knowledge of the planning, even as diplomacy continued.
No final decision on strikes had been reached as of Friday afternoon.
“Circumstances pertaining to Government” are keeping President Trump from attending his son Donald Trump Jnr’s wedding this weekend, he said in a social media post.
The president had planned to spend Memorial Day weekend at his golf property in New Jersey but will now return to the White House.
Some members of the United States military and intelligence community cancelled their plans for the Memorial Day weekend in anticipation of possible strikes, several sources said.
Defence and intelligence officials began updating recall rosters for US installations overseas as tranches of troops stationed in the Middle East rotate out of theatre, part of an effort to reduce the American military footprint in the region amid concern about possible Iranian retaliation.
The US and Iran have largely refrained from striking each other since a temporary ceasefire began in early April, buying time for indirect talks on a longer-term deal.
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told CBS News that President Trump had “made his red lines abundantly clear: Iran can never possess a nuclear weapon, and they cannot keep their enriched uranium”.
“The President always maintains all options at all times, and it is the job of the Pentagon to be ready to execute any decision the Commander-in-Chief could make,” Kelly said.
“The President has been clear about the consequences if Iran fails to make a deal.”
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned on Wednesday that any further strikes against the country from the US or Israel could widen the conflict beyond the Middle East, promising “crushing blows . . . in places you cannot even imagine”. — CBS News
