As the early stages of talks between American and Iranian negotiations commence, there is a significant layer which is making it known they hope the talks will fail and that the U.S. President will hurry up and bomb Iran. On April 8, in the days leading up to the April 12 talks with between U.S. and Iranian delegations, Prime Minister Netanyahu posted on X: “The deal with Iran is acceptable only if the nuclear sites are destroyed under U.S. supervision. Otherwise, the military option is the only choice.” Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer reportedly told Steve Witkoff the same thing when Witkoff called to brief him on his April 12 talks with Iran.
Elliott Abrams, President Trump’s Iran envoy during his first term, also came out with a stern warning against efforts to negotiate with Iran. Abrams told the New York Times: “They [Iran] have an opportunity to tie Israel and the United States in knots by getting into negotiations in which they dupe Witkoff into thinking that negotiations will produce a lot. And so the negotiations start, which holds Israel off, and they continue, and they continue.”
However, the Atlantic Council may take the cake in going all-in for military strikes. An article by Daniel B. Shapiro, a fellow of the Council’s Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative, claims that “a military option is more feasible now than at any time in recent decades.” After asserting that Trump’s aims “include fully dismantling Tehran’s nuclear program,” something not yet stated by Trump, Shapiro then lays out the scenario of why Iran will reject a diplomatic resolution and why Iran’s weakness make this a good time to strike. The article ends by stating: “Military action must always be undertaken with full awareness of the tactical and strategic risks involved. But to achieve the goal he has set with Iran, Trump may find that the moment has come.”