The Trump administration is hosting senior defense and intelligence officials from Israel and Saudi Arabia for talks on Iran this week as U.S. President Donald Trump considers military strikes, Axios reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.
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Uncertainty over the possibility of military action in Iran has lingered after Trump said last week that an “armada” was heading toward the country but that he hoped he would not have to use it.
The Israelis traveled to Washington to share intelligence on potential targets inside Iran, while Saudi officials sought to help avert a wider regional war by pushing for a diplomatic solution, the Axios report said.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian that Riyadh would not allow its airspace or territory to be used for military actions against Tehran, state news agency SPA reported earlier this week.
The U.S. military buildup in the Gulf will be completed in the coming days, U.S. officials say.
The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier has arrived in the region. Trump told Axios on Monday that the “armada” he’d assembled off Iran was “bigger than Venezuela.””The directive at the moment is to prepare, but it looks like the President will reach another decision point on Iran in the coming days,” a U.S. official said.
