Trump Weighs Initial Limited Strike to Force Iran Into Nuclear Deal

WASHINGTON—President Trump is weighing an initial limited military strike on Iran to force it to meet his demands for a nuclear deal, a first step that would be designed to pressure Tehran into an agreement but fall short of a full-scale attack that could inspire a major retaliation.

The opening assault, which if authorized could come within days, would target a few military or government sites, people familiar with the matter said. If Iran still refused to comply with Trump’s directive to end its nuclear enrichment, the U.S. would respond with a broad campaign against regime facilities—potentially aimed at toppling the Tehran regime.

The first limited-strike option, which hasn’t been previously reported, signals Trump might be open to using military force not only as a reprimand for Iran’s failure to make a deal, but also to pave the way for a U.S.-friendly accord. One of the people said Trump could ratchet up his attacks, starting small before ordering larger strikes until the Iranian regime either dismantles its nuclear work or falls.

It couldn’t be determined how seriously Trump is considering the option after weeks of deliberations, though senior aides have repeatedly presented it to him. Discussions of late have focused more on larger-scale campaigns, officials said.

On Thursday, Trump said he would decide his next moves on Iran within 10 days. Later he told reporters his timeline was a maximum of about two weeks. “We’re going to make a deal or get a deal one way or the other,” he said.

White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly declined to discuss what course the U.S. would take, saying “only President Trump knows what he may or may not do.”

Trump hasn’t yet decided to order an attack at any scale, officials said, though he is considering options ranging from a weeklong campaign of attacks to force regime change to a smaller-scale wave of strikes on Iran’s government and military facilities. Some U.S. officials and analysts have warned that such assaults would encourage an Iranian retaliation, possibly drawing the U.S. into a broader war in the Middle East and endangering regional allies.

Trump’s consideration of a smaller initial strike echoes a debate the president held in his first term about delivering a so-called “bloody nose” to North Korea. In 2018, during a period of heated nuclear rhetoric between Washington and Pyongyang, the first Trump administration weighed a limited, pre-emptive strike on North Korea. The move would have demonstrated how serious the U.S. was about ending Pyongyang’s nuclear program.

Trump and his team decided against attacking North Korea. The president instead engaged in diplomacy with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, though three meetings failed to persuade the autocrat to part with his weapons.

On the diplomatic front, senior U.S. officials met this week with Iranian counterparts for negotiations. The U.S. wants an end to Tehran’s nuclear work and to see constraints on Iran’s ballistic-missile program and support for regional armed proxies. Iran has rejected a sweeping arrangement and so far has offered modest concessions on its nuclear efforts. It once again denied it had ever sought to acquire a nuclear weapon.

The impasse, which U.S. officials increasingly say is unlikely to be broken, and an American military buildup near Iran have raised the prospects of strikes.

Iranian officials have threatened to respond with maximum force to any level of American strikes. In a series of social-media statements Tuesday, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said his forces could sink a U.S. aircraft carrier and hit the American military “so hard that it cannot get up again.”

Iran is already wary of Trump’s diplomatic timelines. Last year, the White House said it would give Iran two weeks to make a similar nuclear deal. But just days later, B-2 bombers attacked three Iranian nuclear sites, setting back the country’s nuclear work. 

Over the past few days, the U.S. has continued to move cutting-edge F-35 and F-22 jet fighters toward the Middle East, according to flight-tracking data and a U.S. official. A second aircraft carrier loaded with attack and electronic-warfare planes is on the way. Command-and-control aircraft, which are vital for orchestrating large air campaigns, are inbound. Critical air defenses have also been deployed to the region in recent weeks.

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