Trump has mulled timeline for Iran strikes, but no decision yet

Washington — Top nationalist information officials person told President Trump the subject is acceptable for imaginable strikes connected Iran arsenic soon arsenic Saturday, but the timeline for immoderate enactment is apt to widen beyond this weekend, sources acquainted with the discussions told CBS News. 

Mr. Trump has not yet made a last determination astir whether to strike, said the officials, who spoke nether information of anonymity to sermon delicate nationalist matters.

The conversations person been described arsenic fluid and ongoing, arsenic the White House weighs the risks of escalation and the governmental and subject consequences of restraint. 

Over the adjacent 3 days, the Pentagon is moving immoderate unit temporarily retired of the Middle East portion — chiefly to Europe oregon backmost to the United States — up of imaginable enactment oregon counterattacks by Iran if the U.S. were to determination up with its operation, according to aggregate officials. 

It's modular signifier for the Pentagon to displacement assets and unit up of a imaginable U.S. subject enactment and doesn't needfully awesome an onslaught connected Iran is imminent, 1 of the sources said. 

Contacted by CBS News connected Wednesday afternoon, a Pentagon spokesperson said they had nary accusation to provide. 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio plans to sojourn Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu successful astir 2 weeks for further discussions, according to 1 of the sources.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said astatine a White House briefing Wednesday determination are "many reasons and arguments that 1 could marque for a onslaught against Iran" but diplomacy is ever the president's archetypal option. She declined to sermon whether a imaginable onslaught would beryllium coordinated with Israel.

Leavitt told reporters the medication had "a precise palmy cognition successful June that targeted Iran's atomic facilities. "Iran would beryllium precise omniscient to marque a woody with President Trump and with his administration," she said. 

The USS Abraham Lincoln craft bearer group and its flotilla of warships is already successful the portion and a 2nd bearer group, the USS Gerald Ford, was en way to the Middle East.

As of Wednesday, the Ford was disconnected the seashore of West Africa, according to maritime vas tracking data. 

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei connected Tuesday posted an AI-generated photo of the Ford astatine the bottommost of the ocean. 

"The US President perpetually says that the US has sent a warship toward Iran. Of course, a warship is simply a unsafe portion of subject hardware," work Khamenei's station connected X. "However, much unsafe than that warship is the limb that tin nonstop that warship to the bottommost of the sea."

Iranian and American negotiators held mediated talks Tuesday connected Iran's atomic program. The discussions successful Geneva, Switzerland, lasted respective hours. 

The Trump medication said immoderate advancement has been made, but connected Wednesday Leavitt said, "We're inactive precise acold isolated connected immoderate issues." 

"I judge the Iranians are expected to travel backmost to america with immoderate much item successful the adjacent mates of weeks, and truthful the president volition proceed to ticker however this plays out," she said. 

No day has been acceptable for follow-up consultations. 

Mr. Trump told Netanyahu during a gathering astatine Mar-a-Lago successful December that the president would enactment Israeli strikes connected Iran's ballistic rocket programme if a woody betwixt Washington and Tehran could not beryllium reached, 2 sources said.

Iran warned pilots Wednesday to debar the confederate portion of Iran connected Thursday, owed to rocket launches. 

Eleanor Watson, Kathryn Krupnik and Olivia Gazis contributed to this report.

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