LIVE: TRUMP TO DECIDE WHETHER US TO ATTACK IRAN
‘WITHIN TWO WEEKS’
Trump
may be seeking to test Iran’s ‘weaker’ position
Former
AP regional editor Dan Perry says he is inclined to believe that Trump is
delaying his decision to strike Iran to allow for diplomacy to test Tehran’s
position despite the deception that comes with the fog of war.
“I
think he sort of let loose the dogs here to create pressure on Iran,” Perry
told Al Jazeera.
“And
then if they are prepared to come back to the table, this time slightly tail
between legs and a little bit in a weaker position, and perhaps more flexible
as a consequence, I think he would want to test that,” he said.
“You
can always bunker-bust Fordow later. So the logic of that suggests to me that
this might be true. If so, it would be a disappointment to the Israeli
government.”
Photos: Large crowds
gather in Ahvaz, Iran, for funerals of people killed in Israeli strikes
Iran
pledges ‘maximum support’ for people with damaged homes
The
country’s official news agency IRNA says the government has started damage
registration for buildings hit in Israeli attacks.
It
said Minister of Urban Development Farzaneh Sadegh pledged “maximum support for
the reconstruction and renovation of residential homes”.
Hezbollah
chief says group stands with Iran
Hezbollah’s
Secretary-General Naim Qassem has broken his silence, releasing an lengthy
statement expressing support for Iran against Israeli attacks and US threats.
He
said Trump’s suggestion that the US could assassinate Iran’s supreme leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is an “aggression” against all the people of the region.
Despite
its deep ties with Iran, Hezbollah has been sitting on the sidelines since the
start of the Israeli assault. Weakened by its devastating war with Israel last
year, the group has not activated the Lebanese front.
“We,
in Hezbollah and the Islamic Resistance, are not neutral between the legitimate
and independent rights of Iran and America’s malevolence and its aggression
with the cancerous tumour, Israel,” Qassem said.
The
statement left the door open for a possible intervention by Hezbollah, saying
that the group will do “what it sees appropriate” to confront “this heinous
American-Israeli aggression”.
Trump’s artificial deadlines are fluid
Trump’s
two-week deadline could be a ploy
Al
Jazeera’s senior analyst Marwan Bishara says Trump may still carry out strikes
on Iran within the two-week deadline that his spokesperson just announced.
“He
could actually use that as a pretext in order to camouflage whatever his
intentions are and attack tomorrow,” Bishara said.
Trump
had renewed his commitment to diplomacy with Iran hours before the Israeli
strikes began last week.
Bishara
said the US president could also be pausing his decision to allow talks between
Iranian and European officials tomorrow and see where they may lead.
“If
one has to over-interpret, I would say the following: He’s giving the Europeans
some time so that everyone could save face,” he said.
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