The New York Times reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s persistent lobbying convinced President Donald Trump to authorize an attack on Iran in late February.
According to the Times, Netanyahu spent about an hour making the case for airstrikes during a classified meeting in the White House’s underground situation room on Feb. 11. President Trump reportedly responded that it sounded like a good idea.
At the meeting, Netanyahu argued that the timing was right to pursue regime change in Tehran, saying that coordinated strikes by the United States and Israel could disable Iran’s ballistic missile program within weeks.
He also urged that fomenting anti-government protests inside Iran could help bring about the regime’s collapse.
CIA Director Ratcliffe, who attended the meeting, reportedly dismissed the regime-change scenario as “ridiculous,” and Secretary Rubio likewise called it “nonsense.”
The New York Times quoted sources saying that “everyone followed Trump’s gut, and no one tried to stop him.” After Trump reportedly said, “I guess we have to do it,” he closed the meeting, and on Feb. 28 the operation code-named “Grand Fury” was launched.
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Kim Tae-wook (tw@yna.co.kr)
