President Donald Trump says he doesn’t want Israel to attack Iran while he’s actively negotiating an agreement that could prevent Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
The possibility of an imminent Israeli attack on its longtime foe Iran was great enough that Trump said he ordered the evacuation of some American diplomats in the Middle East this week.
“There’s a chance of massive conflict. We have a lot of American people in this area, and I said, ‘We got to tell them to get out,’ because something could happen. Soon,” Trump said at a White House event. “And I don’t want to be the one that didn’t give any warning, and missiles are flying into their buildings. It’s possible. So I had to do it.”
Trump’s comments came a day after the U.S. abruptly pulled some diplomats out of Iraq. A subsequent report from the New York Times said American and European officials were warning of a possible Israeli attack that could turn the region into a tinder box or undercut the Trump administration’s nuclear negotiations.
“As long as I think there is an agreement, I don’t want them going in, because I think that would blow it. Might help it, actually. But it also could blow it,” Trump told reporters on June 12. “Whether or not we get there, I can’t tell you, but it will happen soon.”
Trump has also threatened to bomb Iran if diplomacy fails.
His special envoy Steve Witkoff has been working to secure a deal to curb Iran’s uranium enrichment program and plans to travel to Oman on Sunday for a sixth round of talks. Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer and the head of Israel’s spy agency, Mossad chief David Barnea, were also expected to meet with Witkoff.
Trump spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the phone on June 9 after a meeting at Camp David with military and national security officials. The White House declined to say what the leaders discussed or who Trump met with at the presidential retreat.
Then, on June 11, the administration withdrew personnel from the U.S. embassy in Iraq without explanation. The State Department said its embassies in Bahrain and Kuwait had not changed their staffing and remained fully operational.
The move came as Trump said in an interview with “Pod Force One” that he was feeling less confident about an Iranian nuclear deal.
However, he told reporters on June 12: “We’re fairly close to an agreement. We are fairly close to a pretty good agreement. It’s got to be better than pretty good, though.”