President Trump announced on social media on Friday that he was considering “winding down” military operations in Iran, signaling a shift to more modest U.S. goals for the conflict.
As the U.S.-Israeli airstrike campaign got underway last month, the Trump administration said it aspired to create conditions for regime change in Tehran. The White House also said it aimed to completely strip Iran of its stockpile of nuclear fuel, which could be fashioned into a weapon.
But as Americans look at gasoline selling for around $4 a gallon, and Republicans become nervous about the economic backlash of the Pentagon’s call for $200 billion to replace its ammunition, it was no surprise that Mr. Trump sought to reassure Americans that the United States was “very close” to meeting its objectives.
Friday’s post appeared to retreat from earlier, more ambitious goals, omitting any reference to them. Instead, President Trump focused on weakening Iran’s military and defense capabilities, while vowing to defend U.S. allies in the Middle East.
He maintained that the United States was “getting very close to meeting our objectives” and left the issue of reopening the Strait of Hormuz to other countries that use it, claiming the United States does not. “If asked, we will help these Countries in their Hormuz efforts, but it shouldn’t be necessary once Iran’s threat is eradicated,” he said.
The statement no longer mentioned supporting regime change through a popular uprising, an objective the president had set at the start of the U.S.-Israeli attacks.
He softened the wording on how to deal with Iran’s nuclear fuel stockpile, avoiding the requirement that it must all be removed from the country, and talking instead about making sure the United States is in a position to “powerfully react” if Iran tries to reconstitute its nuclear program.
He added the objective of “protecting, at the highest level,” the American allies in the region, naming Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait. And the statement essentially turned the problem of guarding and policing the Strait of Hormuz over to the countries “who use it.” While saying the United States would help, President Trump is essentially leaving it to Europe, Japan, South Korea and China, among others, to figure out how to safely get their oil and gas out of the Persian Gulf.
Mr. Trump asserted that the war could soon end, despite ongoing U.S. aerial assaults in the Persian Gulf and the pending deployment of about 2,500 additional Marines next month.
David E. Sanger covers the Trump administration and a range of national security issues. He has been a Times journalist for more than four decades and has written four books on foreign policy and national security challenges.
The post Trump Signals Retreat From Goal of Regime Change in Iran appeared first on New York Times.
