Trump Delays Iran Strikes – Libya Concerns | Reuters

by Archynetys News Desk

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Article Summary

President Trump is hesitant to bomb Iran due to concerns about creating a situation similar to Libya, where the ousting of Muammar Gaddafi led to prolonged instability. sources within the management indicate trump fears regime change in Iran could lead to chaos. he is delaying a decision on joining Israeli airstrikes, hoping for potential negotiations with Iran.While considering limited airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities,Trump is wary of the potential consequences,including Iranian retaliation and the possibility of someone “worse than Khamenei” taking power. Israel, though, seems to favor regime change, with its defense minister calling Iran’s leader “the modern Hitler.”

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Article Title: Trump fears Iran bombing could create 'another Libya,' shelves decision for 2 weeks Article URL: 🔶CANONICALURL (e.g., https://nypost.com/2024/01/26/trump-fears-iran-bombing-could-create-another-libya-shelves-decision-for-2-weeks/) Website Name: 🔶SITENAME (e.g., New York Post) Category: 🔶CATEGORY (e.g., Politics, International Relations, Middle East) Keywords: 🔶KEYWORD1, 🔶KEYWORD2, 🔶KEYWORD3, 🔶KEYWORD4, 🔶KEYWORD5 (e.g., Trump, Iran, Libya, Israel, Nuclear, airstrikes, khamenei, Netanyahu, Regime Change) Publish Date: 🔶PUBLISHDATE (e.g., 2024-01-26) Author: 🔶AUTHORNAME (If known, or else omit) Summary: President Trump is hesitant to bomb Iran due to concerns about creating a situation similar to Libya, where the ousting of Muammar Gaddafi led to prolonged instability. Sources within the administration indicate Trump fears regime change in Iran could lead to chaos.He is delaying a decision on joining Israeli airstrikes, hoping for potential negotiations with Iran. While considering limited airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, trump is wary of the potential consequences, including Iranian retaliation and the possibility of someone "worse than Khamenei" taking power. Israel, however, seems to favor regime change, with its defense minister calling Iran's leader "the modern Hitler." Key People: Donald Trump: President of the United States Ayatollah Khamenei: Supreme Leader of Iran Benjamin Netanyahu: Prime Minister of israel Karoline Leavitt: White House Press Secretary Araghchi: Iran's Foreign Minister Steve Witkoff: Trump's special envoy Israel Katz: Israel's Defense Minister John ratcliffe: CIA Director Muammar Gaddafi: Former leader of Libya Key Locations: Washington, D.C. Iran Libya Israel Geneva, Switzerland Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant Natanz Key Organizations: White House IDF (Israel Defense Forces) CIA NATO UN Article Highlights/Quotes: "Trump 'doesn't want it to turn into Libya,' saeid one insider familiar with the administration's deliberations..." "there's a ample chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future." - Karoline Leavitt "Libya was a much more extended kind of bombing commitment, and it ended up being regime change." "If the regime falls [in Iran]then it's not on Trump, because that's not the goal of his very limited strike." "We will achieve all our objectives and hit all of their nuclear facilities. We have the capability to do that," - Benjamin Netanyahu "the president's top priority right now is to ensure that Iran can not attain a nuclear weapon and providing peace and stability to the middle East." - Karoline Leavitt "The IDF has been instructed and knows that to achieve all the objectives, without question this man should no longer continue to exist," - israel Katz Possible themes/Angles: Trump's foreign policy decision-making process. The potential consequences of military intervention in Iran. The relationship between the US and Israel regarding Iran. The future of the Iran nuclear deal. The risk of instability in the middle East. Comparison of the situations in Libya and Iran. HTML Content:

WASHINGTON - President Trump's wariness over bombing Iran is due in part to concerns about creating "another Libya" if Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei is toppled, administration insiders told The Post - as Trump shelves his decision for up to two weeks.

The president in recent days has specifically mentioned the oil-rich North African country's decade-long plunge into anarchy in 2011 - after the US joined a NATO bombing campaign to oust dictator Muammar Gaddafi - three sources close to the administration said.

trump "doesn't want it to turn into Libya," said one insider familiar with the administration's deliberations on possibly joining Israel's airstrikes against Iran's nuclear program.

President Trump has delayed a decision on possibly bombing Iran's nuclear sites. AFP via Getty Images

On Thursday afternoon, White House press secretary Karoline leavitt announced that the president was also biding his time before deciding whether to join israel's strikes "based on the fact that there's a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future."

Iran's Foreign Minister Araghchi is expected to meet his UK, French, German, and EU counterparts in Geneva, Switzerland on Friday for talks. Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff is not set to attend, Leavitt said, but noted that he's continued his own conversations with the Iranians.

one of The post's sources said thay directly heard the president say in private he was worried about Iran becoming like Libya before Israel began its aerial assault on Iran.

Other sources were briefed by those who had heard him say so following the start of the conflict last week, with one source close to the administration saying he also mentioned Afghanistan and Iraq.

A fifth source lacked direct knowledge of the Libya remarks, but was briefed on Trump's considerations, said the president seems most inclined to order limited airstrikes to finish off Iran's nuclear facilities at Fordow and Natanz with 30,000-pound "bunker buster" bombs that can't be carried on Israeli jets.

Trump, who this week is overseeing White House construction projcets, including the erection of large flagpoles and the paving of the Rose Garden, has expressed concern about Iran turning into Libya. AP

"Libya was a much more extended kind of bombing commitment, and it ended up being regime change," the fifth source noted.

"If the regime falls [in Iran]then it's not on Trump, because that's not the goal of his very limited strike."

That source mentioned concern that "we get somebody worse than Khamenei."


Read the latest on the conflict between Israel and Iran


"As far as President Trump goes,he's not going to get in the business of who runs Iran,that's very salable to his base," the source said.

If the US does successfully use bunker busters on the nuclear sites, one source close to the White house said "there is still dealing with Iran's response" and fears of contamination or Iran retaliating through terrorism.

"He'd rather have a deal," the source told The Post.

iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has ruled his country since the 1980s. ZUMAPRESS.com

"There are two reasons Trump talks about Libya: the first is the chaos after what we did to Gaddafi. The second is the Libya intervention made it more difficult to negotiate deals with countries like North Korea and Iran," said the source who heard the president directly mention the comparison.

Israel's defense minister left no doubt that the Jewish state is in favor of regime change on Thursday after dubbing Iran's supreme leader "the modern Hitler."

"The IDF has been instructed and knows that to achieve all the objectives, without question this man should no longer continue to exist," Defense Minister Israel Katz said.

Hours later, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the choice of US involvement in the conflict was "entirely" up to Trump, claiming for the first time that the Israeli military was capable of decimating the remaining Iranian nuclear facilities without American bunker-buster bombs.

"We will achieve all our objectives and hit all of their nuclear facilities. We have the capability to do that," Netanyahu said when asked by a reporter about the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant hidden half a mile under a mountain.

Trump's cabinet members have also expressed strong concerns regarding UN watchdog findings about Iran violating its non-proliferation obligations for uranium enrichment, far above what's considered necessary for civilian purposes and at levels "unprecedented for a non-nuclear state," a US official said.

CIA Director John ratcliffe has in private meetings made the analogy that suggesting Iran is not prepared to make use of its near weapons-grade nuclear program would be like saying a football team one-yard from the end zone doesn't want to score a touchdown, according to the official.

AFP via Getty Images

After Israel launched its preemptive airstrikes on Iran last week, many military experts had doubted that the Jewish state has the capabilities of taking out Fordow, given how far underground it's located.

Even Israel's 2,000-pound bombs, purchased from the US, had been believed to be to small.

Multiple countries in the region have been torn apart by long-running civil wars involving the US - including Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Yemen - but Trump has repeatedly pointed to Libya.

Libya's longtime dictator Gaddafi, who ruled for 42 years and voluntarily gave up a nuclear weapon program in 2003, was toppled by domestic foes aided by the Obama administration's intervention.

Khamenei similarly has ruled for a generation - with 35 years in power as supreme leader after nearly eight years as Iran's president under the first supreme leader, Ayatollah Khomeini.

Trump is considering airstrikes due to the uncertainty over whether Israel's bombs are powerful enough to collapse underground facilities. MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

In libya, a hoped-for democratic transition gave way to a hellscape of ruthless warlords and religious extremists.

Slave markets opened and Islamic State terrorists filmed themselves beheading groups of Christians on the beach. Oil production plunged and the lack of a central government prompted Africans from across the continent to cross the Mediterranean to Europe in unsafe boats.

Leavitt told reporters at Thursday's White House briefing that "the president is balancing a lot of viewpoints and he is listening not just to other world leaders, but to his advisors and to people here in the country and the American people too."

Iran's nuclear sites at Fordow and Natanz could be hit in limited Trump strikes, a source told The Post. AFP via Getty Images

"Based on the fact that there's a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks," she said, sharing a full statement from Trump.

On regime change, Leavitt said "the president's top priority right now is to ensure that iran can not attain a nuclear weapon and providing peace and stability to the Middle East."

The White House referred The Post to Leavitt's comments made during the briefing.

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Summary: A concise overview of the article’s main points. This is crucial for the LLM to quickly grasp the core content.
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Possible Themes/Angles: Suggestions for potential follow-up stories,related content,or different perspectives on the same events. This helps the LLM generate creative and relevant outputs.
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