The diplomatic trap awaiting Trump
Meir Ben-Shabbat warns that Iran is setting a diplomatic trap for Trump through negotiations aimed at buying time, and calls for completing the military mission against Iran's nuclear program.
Meir Ben-Shabbat, head of the Misgav Institute for National Security and former head of the National Security Council, warns in an opinion piece in Israel Hayom that Iran is setting a diplomatic trap for President Trump. He cites the State Department's announcement of a reward of up to $20 million for information on Iran's nuclear program as a sign of urgency and a lack of intelligence control. Ben-Shabbat links this to remarks by Prime Minister Netanyahu about three weeks ago, who said that Iran is again trying to develop nuclear bombs. According to him, Trump signals that he is not seeking military escalation, and the Iranians are exploiting this through Qatari and Turkish mediation to buy time until the inauguration of a Congress hostile to Trump in 55 days. He quotes senior Iranian official Mohsen Rezaei, who wrote that Iran has inflicted a strategic and political defeat on Trump, and calls for completing the military mission against Iran's nuclear program.