Benjamin Netanyahu convinced Donald Trump to attack Iran

“It was a success like no other in the world,” Trump announced . Moments earlier, six B2 strategic bombers with limited stealth dropped 14 GBU-57 bombs capable of penetrating thick layers of solid rock on the Fordo uranium enrichment center. The Americans used this extraordinary weapon for the first time. At the same time, American submarines fired Tomahawk missiles at Iran’s nuclear facilities in Natanz and Isfahan.

Trump, who had promised to “put America first,” yielded to the persuasion of a foreign leader, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “We acted as a perfectly coordinated tandem,” he assured.

But unlike the Israelis, U.S. intelligence is not convinced that Iran was on the verge of developing an atomic bomb.

Just two weeks ago, Trump was leaning towards a different solution. He wanted to negotiate with Tehran to limit its nuclear program to civilian needs. The Israeli bombings on June 13th destroyed any chance of an agreement. The US president first accepted the Israeli prime minister's line, demanding Iran's "complete surrender", and finally, at his urging, joined the war. Israel did not have the military means to destroy the Fordo facility. Trump assured that the "Hammer of the North" operation was "completely successful". He appealed to Iran to return to negotiations. "The time for peace is now," he said. He warned that if the Iranians decide to retaliate, the United States will destroy many other targets in the ayatollahs' country.

Iran's Secret Facilities Targeted by US Military

But Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi ruled out peace negotiations. “Retaliation is necessary!” he said.

It is not yet known whether the Fordo facility has actually been neutralized or whether it is still capable of enriching uranium. An advisor to the speaker of the Iranian parliament, Mahdi Mohammadi, assured that it has not suffered any significant damage. If that were true, or if Iran still had other, secret nuclear facilities, the world could expect the Iranian regime to retaliate with nuclear weapons in the future. "We do not know whether Iran still has a nuclear capability," admitted US Armed Forces Chief General Dan Caine.

But even without that, it is quite possible that the Iranian regime will attack American military bases in the Middle East, and also close the Strait of Hormuz, through which much of the world's oil passes. That would cause a sharp increase in fuel prices. And probably a global recession.

In March 2003, George W. Bush expected a short military operation against Saddam Hussein's regime. It ended in nine years of grueling fighting and American defeat. But Iran, with its 90 million people, is a much more powerful country than Iraq.

United States Divided Over Attack on Iran

It is therefore possible that Trump, who won the election under the slogan of a "presidency of peace", will become a "president of war" for the rest of his term. Especially since he failed to extinguish the conflict in Ukraine. Washington, preoccupied with the war with Iran, will probably be even less inclined to support Kiev: this task will fall to Europe.

But a war with Iran would also have profound consequences for America itself. It has already divided Trump’s MAGA (Make America Great Again) supporters. A significant portion of them, including the leading populist-right columnist Tucker Carlson, remain isolationist and opposed to America’s involvement in the war. That, along with a poor economy, could cause Republicans to lose their majority in Congress in the midterm elections in a little over a year. Trump would then be stripped of much of his power.

For now, Senate Republicans have rallied behind the president. But Democrats say he violated the Constitution by taking America to war.