White House officials concerned by Benjamin Netanyahu’s Mideast policies
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Diverging Reports Breakdown
How Trump, a self-proclaimed “peacemaker,” embraced Israel’s campaign against Iran
Trump’s decision to back Israel came amid frustration with diplomatic process, pressure from political allies. By mid-May, the Pentagon had begun drawing up detailed contingency plans to aid Israel if it followed through on its long-held ambition to strike Iran’s nuclear program. U.S. had already diverted thousands of defensive weapons away from war-torn Ukraine toward the Middle East in preparation for potential conflict, according to a Western source and a Ukrainian source. The White House on Thursday said that Trump will make a decision on whether the United States will get involved in the conflict in the next two weeks. The first hints that Trump might sign off on an Israeli bombing campaign came in April, when Saudi Arabia’s defense minister delivered a blunt message to Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian: Take seriously your offer to negotiate an agreement with Washington. The Pentagon declined to comment for this story; the Israeli prime minister’s delegation to the United Nations did not respond to a request for comment for comment, a Washington has rejected.
Item 1 of 2 U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu answer questions during a joint press conference in the East Room at the White House in Washington, U.S., February 4, 2025. REUTERS/Leah Millis/File Photo
Summary US preparations for Iran strikes more extensive than acknowledged
Trump’s decision to back Israel came amid frustration with diplomatic process, pressure from political allies
Israel planned Iran strikes with or without US support, officials say
WASHINGTON, June 19 (Reuters) – Roughly one month ago, from the stage at an investment forum in Saudi Arabia, U.S. President Donald Trump issued a warning to Iran that would prove prophetic.
“We’ll never allow America and its allies to be threatened with terrorism or nuclear attack,” Trump told the crowd, sending a message to the leadership in Tehran.
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“The time is right now for them to choose. Right now. We don’t have a lot of time to wait. Things are happening at a very fast pace.”
That May 13 ultimatum received little attention at the time.
But behind the scenes, the president already knew an attack on Iran could be imminent – and that there might be little he could do to stop it, according to two U.S. officials.
By mid-May, the Pentagon had begun drawing up detailed contingency plans to aid Israel if it followed through on its long-held ambition to strike Iran’s nuclear program, the officials said. And the U.S. had already diverted thousands of defensive weapons away from war-torn Ukraine toward the Middle East in preparation for potential conflict, according to a Western source familiar with the matter and a Ukrainian source.
The Pentagon declined to comment for this story.
This account of the weeks and days leading up to Trump’s decision to throw his support behind Israel’s bombing campaign is based on interviews with over a dozen administration officials, foreign diplomats and Trump confidantes, most of whom spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations.
The picture that emerges is that of a long, secretive preparation process and a president who for weeks found himself torn between diplomacy and supporting military action – and was ultimately persuaded in part by an ally whose actions he did not fully control.
While Trump has long described himself as a peacemaker – dispatching Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff to the region several times to try to seal a diplomatic accord – he had several trusted political allies pushing him to back an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
And U.S. intelligence had indicated a unilateral Israeli strike was possible, even likely, even if Trump wanted to wait, according to two U.S. officials.
While it is unclear if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or Trump’s more hawkish allies ever got him to a “yes” to Israel’s plans, by the days leading up the strike he was at least not a “no,” according to two senior U.S. officials and a senior Israeli source.
That stance, people familiar with the dynamics said, helped tip Israel into action.
Seven days into the Israel-Iran conflict, Trump is left with a dilemma, said Aaron David Miller, a veteran diplomat who has advised six secretaries of state on Middle East policy.
He can try again to pursue a diplomatic resolution with Iran, allow Iran and Israel “to fight it out,” or he can enter the war with U.S. airstrikes on the deeply buried Fordow enrichment plant, a step that would have unknown consequences for the region.
Trump “let it (the Israeli attack) happen,” said Miller, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace policy institute. “He got on the tiger and he’s riding it.”
The White House on Thursday said that Trump will make a decision on whether the U.S. will get involved in the conflict in the next two weeks.
The White House, the Israeli prime minister’s office and Iran’s delegation to the United Nations did not respond to a request for comment. Tehran has consistently said its nuclear program is designed for peaceful purposes only, a conclusion Washington has rejected.
THE COMING STORM
One of the first hints that Trump might sign off on an Israeli bombing campaign came in April.
During a closed-door meeting on April 17, Saudi Arabia’s defense minister delivered a blunt message to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian: Take Trump’s offer to negotiate an agreement seriously because it presents a way to avoid the risk of war with Israel.
Reuters could not determine whether the message was sent at Washington’s behest, nor whether Iran’s leaders took that message seriously.
With hindsight, they should have.
The Israel Defense Forces and the head of U.S. Central Command, General Michael “Erik” Kurilla, were discussing detailed intelligence about Iran’s missile buildup and nuclear program and steps that could be required to defend U.S. troops and Israel itself in any conflict with Iran, according to a U.S. official and senior Israeli official.
Meanwhile, the U.S. was funneling weapons to Israel that would be useful for an air war with Iran. In one instance in early May, a large shipment of defensive missiles originally meant for Ukraine was diverted to Israel instead, according to the Western source and the Ukrainian source.
The diverted shipment caused consternation in Kyiv and sparked continued fears that additional weapons needed to defend against Moscow will instead be used to defend U.S. interests elsewhere, the Ukrainian source said.
In the opening months of Trump’s term, Israel had already proposed to Washington a series of options to attack Iran’s facilities, according to sources.
While Trump had rebuffed those ideas, saying he preferred diplomacy for the time being, several people close to him said he was never dead-set against using military force against Iran.
He had done so before. In 2020, despite a foreign policy during his first term that was otherwise marked by restraint, Trump ordered a drone strike that killed major general Qassem Soleimani, the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ division responsible for its international operations.
The Iranian government has since sought to murder Trump in revenge, U.S. prosecutors have said , an allegation Tehran denies.
Behind the scenes, Trump had been pulled in multiple directions on the Iran issue since before he even took office.
On one side, many supporters – including conservative media personality Tucker Carlson – and administration officials saw Trump’s Make America Great Again movement as an antidote to decades of foreign wars that cost thousands of American lives without significantly advancing American interests.
On the other, several close Trump allies – from conservative commentator Mark Levin to Republican Senator Lindsey Graham – were portraying a nuclear Iran as an existential threat that must be removed at any cost.
Trump himself took pride in being a broker of peace.
“My proudest legacy,” he said during his inauguration address, “will be that of a peacemaker and unifier.”
“IT’S A TANGO”
Ultimately, no U.S. official, Trump confidante or diplomat Reuters talked to identified an epiphany that tipped the scales for the president.
One senior administration official said that after months of sitting on the fence a lack of diplomatic progress, a push from the Israelis and appeals by hawkish allies likely wore him down.
Trump aides and allies have noted that Israel’s attack unfolded just after the expiry of a 60-day deadline the Trump administration had set for a diplomatic breakthrough with Iran.
The senior U.S. official said another dynamic was at play: As U.S. intelligence consistently showed Israel might go ahead with an attack with or without U.S. support, the administration could look caught off guard if they did not get behind it. Worse, it could appear that the U.S. was opposing a longtime ally.
Although Trump had appeared to some to snub Netanyahu as he pushed for a peaceful solution to the crisis, privately, Israel understood that Washington would stand by it, said a separate official.
By the time Trump talked to Netanyahu on Monday, June 9 – one of many phone calls in recent days – his stance was one of tacit, if not explicit approval, according to one U.S. and one Israeli official.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump had said he would like more time to see diplomacy play out. But the U.S. official said that he did not explicitly veto Israel’s plans.
By Wednesday, June 11, it was clear to Washington that Israel’s plans were a go.
That day, Reuters reported that the U.S. was preparing a partial evacuation of its Iraqi embassy amid fears of reprisals from Iran following an imminent attack.
The next day, June 12, Washington sent a formal diplomatic note to several regional allies, warning them that an attack was imminent.
That evening, Israel launched its overnight barrage , an attack that almost immediately escalated into an air war.
Trump and some key cabinet members watched the events live from the wood-paneled “JFK room,” part of the White House Situation Room. Other officials watched the events nearby.
On the menu, per one official: stone crabs from a local restaurant.
The initial attack appeared to be a success, with several close advisers to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei killed and key nuclear sites seriously damaged. Over the weekend, the Israelis considered killing Khamenei himself , but were waved off by Trump, according to two U.S. officials.
Almost immediately, a political civil war erupted in Trump’s Republican Party, with several high-profile conservatives, including members of Congress, accusing his administration of fanning the flames of war.
Seven days on, the U.S. intelligence community believes the strikes have set Iran’s nuclear ambitions back by only months, according to a source familiar with U.S. intelligence reports, confirming a CNN report.
A significant blow to Iran’s nuclear ambitions, most analysts say , will require dropping bunker-busting bombs on the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant, the crown jewel of Iran’s nuclear program. Only the U.S. has that capability.
Trump has said he is considering such a strike, which would represent a major escalation for the United States.
As of Thursday, his intentions were still unclear
Reporting by Gram Slattery, Phil Stewart, Steve Holland and Jonathan Landay in Washington; Additional reporting by Idrees Ali and Trevor Hunnicutt in Washington, Jonathan Saul in London and Crispian Balmer in Jerusalem; Editing by Don Durfee, Daniel Flynn and Andrea Ricci
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Behaving like a child: White House increasingly worried about Netanyahu’s Mideast goals – report
“Bibi [Benjamin Netanyahu] is acting like a madman. He bombs everything all the time. This could undermine what Trump is trying to do,” a White House official told Axios. Trump himself made an angry call to Netanyahu after Israel’s bombing of the only Catholic Church in Gaza on Thursday. Still, it is “unclear” if he shares the frustrations of his advisors, Axios reports. “The feeling is that every day there is something new,” an unnamed U.S. official said.
White House officials reportedly believe Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be out of control and that his actions could undermine US President Donald Trump’s plans in the Middle East, Axios reported on Sunday, citing White House officials.
“Bibi [Benjamin Netanyahu] is acting like a madman. He bombs everything all the time. This could undermine what Trump is trying to do,” a White House official told Axios.
Another U.S. official told Axios, “Netanyahu is sometimes like a child who just won’t behave.”
Trump himself made an angry call to Netanyahu after Israel’s bombing of the only Catholic Church in Gaza on Thursday. After Netanyahu told Trump the bombing was a mistake, Trump demanded the Israeli government put out a public statement to that effect — which they did.
Still, despite the administration’s concerns about Netanyahu and Trump’s reaction to the Thursday attack, Axios reports it is “unclear” if he shares the frustrations of his advisors. Trump has repeatedly gone to bat for Netanyahu in recent months — specifically on the corruption case he is facing.
“I was shocked to hear that the State of Israel, which has just had one of its Greatest Moments in History, and is strongly led by Bibi Netanyahu, is continuing its ridiculous Witch Hunt against their Great War Time Prime Minister!” Trump wrote on June 25. He added, “Bibi Netanyahu was a WARRIOR, like perhaps no other Warrior in the History of Israel.”
Trump, on June 29, also threatened to withhold U.S. aid from Israel if the charges against Netanyahu were not dropped.
And yet those inside the West Wing are losing confidence in the prime minister.
“The feeling is that every day there is something new,” an unnamed U.S. official told Axios. “What the f***?”
“Netanyahu is sometimes like a child who just won’t behave,” the official told Axios.
An additional US official highlighted the strike on Gaza’s Holy Family Church, a Roman Catholic parish in the Gaza Strip, last week.
Trump celebrates 6 months back in office: US ‘totally revived’ after being ‘DEAD’ under Biden
President Donald Trump celebrated six months since he was sworn into his second term on Sunday. Trump said that the United States has been “totally revived” after being “DEAD” under former President Joe Biden. Trump’s first six months have been marked by a number of significant moments, particularly on the international stage. Trump has repeatedly said the U.S. is the “hottest” country, claiming to have restored America’s reputation both domestically and on the world stage with his “America First” foreign policy. Trump on Sunday also appeared to dismiss concerns that his administration’s handling of the Epstein files could cost Republicans control of Congress in the 2026 midterm elections. “They have hit 90%, 92%, 93%, 95%, and 95%, all Republican Party records,” Trump wrote in a post on TRUTH Social. “My MAGA numbers are my highest, EVER! The General Election Numbers are my strongest, and all other things I have done like like GOD BLESS AMERICA!” he wrote in another post.
“Wow, time flies! Today is that Sixth Month Anniversary of my Second Term. Importantly, it’s being hailed as one of the most consequential periods of any President,” Trump wrote on social media.
“In other words, we got a lot of good and great things done, including ending numerous wars of Countries not related to us other than through Trade and/or, in certain cases, friendship,” he added on TRUTH Social. “Six months is not a long time to have totally revived a major Country.”
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Trump continued: “One year ago our Country was DEAD, with almost no hope of revival. Today the USA is the ‘hottest’ and most respected Country anywhere in the World. Happy Anniversary!!!”
Lawsuit Tracker: New Resistance Battling Trump’s Second Term Through Onslaught Of Lawsuits Taking Aim At Eos
President Donald Trump during a signing ceremony for the GENIUS Act in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Friday, July 18, 2025.
Trump’s first six months have been marked by a number of significant moments, particularly on the international stage.
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After Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen ramped up attacks on shipping vessels in the Red Sea in late 2024, the Trump administration designated the group a foreign terrorist organization, reinstating a move that had been reversed under Biden.
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U.S. and U.K. forces earlier this year pounded Houthi missile and radar sites as part of an operation to ensure freedom of navigation, and the Trump administration secured a ceasefire deal with the terror group in May.
Trump intervened in the Israel-Iran war in June, ordering U.S. military strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities and infrastructure that pummeled Tehran’s capabilities and forced the regime into quick submission.
Though Trump had promised on the campaign trail to end the Ukraine-Russia war within 24 hours, a peace agreement between the two sides has so far failed to materialize.
Earlier in his second term, Trump had slammed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for a perceived lack of gratitude for billions of dollars in U.S. support to his war effort under Biden’s presidency. Trump more recently has sharpened his criticism of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, slamming Moscow for the massive loss of life on both sides during the more than three-year-long conflict.
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Ukraine’s Zelenskyy Names New Prime Minister For First Time Since Russia’s War Began
Trump issued a new deadline in mid-July that Russia had 50 days to agree to a ceasefire or face “maximum tariffs.” He also recently approved the sale of additional U.S. Patriot missiles to Ukraine.
In its first six months, the Trump administration had also brokered a ceasefire between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda in late June.
Beyond “ending numerous wars,” Trump has celebrated other accomplishments during his first six months back in office, including securing the passage of his “big, beautiful bill,” which made the 2017 Trump tax cuts permanent. The legislative package also earmarked funding for the president’s other initiatives, including for his mass deportation campaign and border security.
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On overseas trips and at home, Trump has repeatedly said the U.S. is the “hottest” country, claiming to have restored America’s reputation both domestically and on the world stage with his “America First” foreign policy.
President Donald Trump gestures as he boards Air Force One in Morristown, New Jersey, Sunday, July 6, 2025, en route to Washington.
Delivering on his 2024 pledge to make the U.S. the “crypto capital of the planet,” Trump on Friday signed landmark legislation that creates a regulatory regime for dollar-pegged cryptocurrencies known as stablecoins.
Trump on Sunday also appeared to dismiss concerns that his administration’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files could cost Republicans control of Congress in the 2026 midterm elections and beyond.
“My Poll Numbers within the Republican Party, and MAGA, have gone up, significantly, since the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax was exposed by the Radical Left Democrats and, just plain ‘troublemakers’,” Trump wrote in another post Sunday morning. “They have hit 90%, 92%, 93%, and 95%, in various polls, and are all Republican Party records. The General Election numbers are my highest, EVER! People like Strong Borders, and all of the many other things I have done. GOD BLESS AMERICA. MAGA!”
Original article source: Trump celebrates 6 months back in office: US ‘totally revived’ after being ‘DEAD’ under Biden
Murdoch Tells Trump to Bring It on In Fight Over WSJ’s Epstein Story
Dow Jones, The Wall Street Journal’s parent company, dared President Donald Trump to bring it on after the president launched a $10 billion libel lawsuit against the publication. Trump filed the suit on Friday, accusing the Murdoch-owned paper of “glaring failures in journalistic ethics and standards of accurate reporting,” after the publication of a story about a gift Trump supposedly gave Jeffrey Epstein. The story detailed letters given to the convicted sex trafficker for his 50th birthday, which reportedly included a signed note from Trump inside a drawing of a naked woman. Trump claimed that Murdoch had been personally warned not to print the letter, but he “did not have the power to do so”
“We have full confidence in the rigor and accuracy of our reporting,” a spokesperson for Dow Jones said in a statement. “[We] will vigorously defend against any lawsuit.”
Trump filed the suit on Friday, accusing the Murdoch-owned paper of “glaring failures in journalistic ethics and standards of accurate reporting,” after the publication of a story about a gift Trump supposedly gave Jeffrey Epstein for his 50th birthday.
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The story detailed letters given to the convicted sex trafficker for his 50th birthday, which reportedly included a signed note from Trump inside a drawing of a naked woman. The note contained the chilling phrase “may every day be another wonderful secret.”
“Those are not my words,” Trump posted on Truth Social in response to the story. “Also, I don’t draw pictures.”
The WSJ has rebutted the latter claim, highlighting numerous images drawn by the president, four of which were auctioned off during his first term.
Trump and Murdoch embrace at a 2017 dinner commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Coral Sea during WWII. / BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI / AFP via Getty Images
Rupert Murdoch, the Australian media mogul behind Fox News, News Corp, and hundreds of national and international outlets, took ownership of the WSJ in 2007 following the acquisition of Dow Jones & Company.
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Trump claimed that Murdoch had been personally warned not to print the letter, but he “did not have the power to do so.” Therefore, the president plans to make good on his promise to “sue his a– off.”
The relationship between the president and the disgraced financier, who died in prison in 2019, has created an almighty rift in the MAGA support base. The Trump administration’s failure to release criminal information on Epstein and his alleged “client list” has been the focus of intense, recent accusations of a coverup.
President Donald Trump has long had ties to Rupert Murdoch, and the pair are pictured here in 1993. / Sonia Moskowitz / Sonia Moskowitz/Getty Images
The latest round of conspiratorial outbursts follows a memo released by the Justice Department earlier this month, which claimed there was no further information to disclose about the Epstein case.
Trump has since been on the warpath, attempting to quell the rebellion and silence his critics, who believe that the Epstein files are a “hoax” constructed by the Democrats.
With yet another legal battle against a media organization on the horizon, it remains to be seen if Trump’s latest move will bring the silence he desperately wants over Epstein.
Exclusive: Israel seeks swift action on Iran, sources say, with a split U.S. administration
Israeli officials say they do not want to wait the two weeks that U.S. President Donald Trump presented on Thursday as a deadline for deciding whether to get involved in the Israel-Iran war. The Israelis believe they have a limited window of opportunity to move against the deeply buried site at Fordow, the crown jewel of Iran’s nuclear program. The United States is the only country with the bunker-busting bombs powerful enough to reach the facility, which is dug into the side of a mountain. Some prominent members of Trump’s base are urging him not to get the country involved in a new Middle East war.Iran insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only, while Israel says it wants to destroy its nuclear facilities, including the Fordow site, which it says is linked to al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups. It is not clear whether such an operation would involve bombing, or rather focusing on destroying what is inside the site rather than the site itself. Four sources now increasingly say it is increasingly likely that Israel will not attack Fordow alone, though still makes an operation more feasible.
Israel signals it could act on Fordow before end of Trump’s deadline
Israel is looking at range of options to strike Fordow
WASHINGTON/DUBAI/JERUSALEM, June 21 (Reuters) – Israeli officials have told the Trump administration they do not want to wait two weeks for Iran to reach a deal to dismantle key parts of its nuclear program and Israel could act alone before the deadline is up, two sources said, amid a continuing debate on Trump’s team about whether the U.S. should get involved.
The two sources familiar with the matter said Israel had communicated their concerns to Trump administration officials on Thursday in what they described as a tense phone call.
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The Israeli officials said they do not want to wait the two weeks that U.S. President Donald Trump presented on Thursday as a deadline for deciding whether the U.S. will get involved in the Israel-Iran war, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The Israeli participants on the call included Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Israel Katz and military chief Eyal Zamir, according to a security source.
The Israelis believe they have a limited window of opportunity to move against the deeply buried site at Fordow, the crown jewel of Iran’s nuclear program, said the sources. The United States is the only country with the bunker-busting bombs powerful enough to reach the facility, which is dug into the side of a mountain.
Reuters reported on Saturday that the United States is moving B-2 bombers to the Pacific island of Guam, reinforcing the possibility that the U.S. could participate directly in an attack. The B-2 can be equipped to carry America’s 30,000-pound GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator, designed to destroy targets deep underground, such as the one at Fordow.
A person in Washington familiar with the matter said Israel has communicated to the U.S. administration that it believes Trump’s window of up to two weeks is too long and that more urgent action is needed. The person did not say whether the Israelis made that point during the high-level call.
During the call, Vice President JD Vance pushed back, saying the United States shouldn’t be directly involved and suggesting that the Israelis were going to drag the country into war, said the sources. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also participated in the call, said a security source. Reuters could not determine who else took part in the call.
The Jerusalem Post reported earlier that a phone call had taken place on Thursday.
The prospect of a U.S. strike against Iran has exposed divisions in the coalition of supporters that brought Trump to power, with some prominent members of his base urging him not to get the country involved in a new Middle East war.
Vance has frequently criticized past U.S. involvement in conflicts, including Iraq and Afghanistan, but has lately defended Trump against Republican critics who urge the administration to stay out of the Iran conflict.
Other Republicans, including Trump ally Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, have said they hope Trump will help Israel finish destroying Iran’s nuclear program.
Trump, who campaigned on a promise to keep the U.S. out of what he called “stupid” foreign wars, has himself seemed conflicted at times about whether to join the Israeli attack on Iran or focus on diplomatic efforts to end Tehran’s nuclear program. But his rhetoric in recent days has become increasingly aggressive toward Iran.
Iran insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.
A White House official strongly disputed the characterization of Vance’s comments in the call but declined to elaborate. “The Vice President did not say this during the call,” said the official, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Iran’s mission to the United Nations also did not immediately respond.
ISRAELI STRIKE ON FORDOW INCREASINGLY LIKELY
Publicly, Netanyahu has not ruled out Israel attacking Fordow alone, though officials have not provided any details on how that would be achieved.
Four sources said it is now increasingly likely that the country will launch a solo military operation. Israeli air superiority over much of Iran makes an operation more feasible, though still risky, said two of the sources.
The Israelis feel they have the momentum and have limited time given the costs of the war, one source added.
“I don’t see them waiting much longer,” said the source.
It is not clear whether such an operation would involve bombing, ground forces, or both. Two of the sources said that rather than attempting to destroy the entire site Israel could instead do significant damage to it.
That could mean focusing on destroying what is inside the site rather than the site itself, said one of the sources, declining to elaborate.
Some analysts have speculated that Israel could use special forces to enter Fordow and blow it up from inside.
Another scenario being considered, according to a source familiar with the matter, would be to drop a series of munitions in rapid succession in an attempt to breach the fortified site, similar to how the Israeli military killed Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah last year.
Such a strike could be followed by an incursion by special forces, the source said.
It is not clear that Israel has munitions powerful enough to penetrate the fortified facility. It is widely believed that to have a high chance of success, U.S. intervention would be needed.
But even with the massive firepower of a joint U.S.-Israeli military action, military and nuclear experts believe that a military operation would probably only temporarily set back a program the West fears is already aimed at producing atom bombs one day, although Iran denies it.
Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk, Samia Nakhoul, Alexander Cornwell and Emily Rose; Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick and Steve Holland in Washington and Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem; Writing by Don Durfee; Editing by Daniel Wallis
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