Officials and diplomats across the Gulf and Europe say that Iran and the United States are rapidly sliding toward a military conflict by the end of the week as all of the possible diplomatic solutions are seemingly fading.
The Trump administration has reportedly been proposing multiple options on how the United States should deal with Iran's nuclear capabilities and prevent war. According to one senior official who spoke to Axios, the administration is prepared to consider a proposal that could allow Iran a "token" nuclear enrichment if it leaves no possible path to a bomb.
The officials, however, also say that the US president has been presented with military options that involve directly targeting the supreme leader, the Axios report said.
“If the Iranians want to prevent an attack, they should give us an offer we can't refuse. The Iranians keep missing the window. If they play games, there won't be a lot of patience," the senior U.S. official told the US news site.
Meanwhile, Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said Friday that an Iranian proposal would be finalised in the next two or three days.
Trump, however, is inching towards a strike this weekend, according to US and Israeli officials.
Israel’s government believes that Tehran and Washington are at an impasse and is preparing for a joint military action with the US, a source told The Times of Israel.
Two Israeli officials also told Reuters that the gaps between the countries are unbridgeable.
Alan Eyre, a former US diplomat and Iran specialist, said, “What Trump can’t do is assemble all this military, and then come back with a ‘so‑so’ deal and pull out the military. I think he thinks he’ll lose face,” he told Times of Israel. “If he attacks, it’s going to get ugly quickly.”
Trump's advisors, however, have been trying to counsel patience, trying to argue that with time, the US military buildup in the region would grow and its leverage would grow with it.
"The president hasn't decided to strike yet. I know that because we haven't struck. He might never do it. He might wake up tomorrow and say, 'That's it,'" one senior Trump adviser told Axios.
The Pentagon also presented Trump with multiple options. "They have something for every scenario. One scenario takes out the ayatollah and his son and the mullahs," the adviser said. The scenarios is referring to both the supreme leader of the country and his son Mojtaba, who is a potential successor. "What the president chooses no one knows. I don't think he knows."
In an appearance on MS Now’s Morning Joe on Friday, Abbas Araghchi said that the US side did not ask Iran to give up nuclear enrichment altogether.
He also denied that Iran offered to temporarily suspend its enrichment program.
"What we are now talking about is how to make sure that Iran's nuclear program, including enrichment, is peaceful and would remain peaceful forever," Araghchi said. He said that Iran would take confidence-building measures in return for sanctions relief from the US.
However, one senior US official said that Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner told Araghchi that Trump wanted “zero enrichment” in Iran. Witkoff and Kushner also asked Araghchi to produce a detailed proposal addressing all the US concerns regarding Iran’s nuclear program.
With the region inching towards conflict, the US officials insisted that the US wait for Iran's proposal before deciding to proceed.
Aragchi told 'Morning Joe' that the Iranian draft proposal would be shared with the US after final approval from political leadership in Iran.
He said the plan will include "political commitments and technical measures" to ensure the Iranian nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes.
Araghchi also assured that Raphael Grossi, who heads the UN nuclear watchdog, is involved in the negotiations and that he had suggested “technical measures” to oversee the nuclear program. The measures would include a return of UN inspectors to Iran with a robust monitoring mandate, and the removal or dilution of the 450kg of highly enriched uranium that was buried in Iran's nuclear facilities by U.S. and Israeli bombs.