Trump says he is considering a limited strike on Iran if no deal is reached with Washington

US President Donald Trump said he was considering a limited strike on Iran if no deal is reached with the United States, in a brief response Friday to a question from a White House journalist.

In response to a question: “Are you considering a limited strike if Iran doesn’t make a deal?” Trump stated “All I can say … I am studying this”.

As reporters were escorted out of the room, a reporter asked Trump: “Are you thinking of a limited military attack on Iran?” To which Trump replied: “I think I can say I’m thinking about it”.

This comes at a time when the United States has beefed up its military presence in the region in recent weeks, sending additional naval vessels, despite ongoing negotiations with Tehran, amid threats of an attack on Iran.

The United States is demanding that Iran halt its activities to fully enrich uranium and transfer enriched uranium out of the country.

Washington has sought to bring Iran’s missile program and support for militant groups in the region to the negotiating table, but Tehran has repeatedly stressed that it won’t negotiate on any issues other than its nuclear program.

Tehran believes that Washington and Israel are creating pretexts for intervention and regime change in the country, and it promises to respond to any attack, even if its limited, and insists on lifting Western economic sanctions imposed on it in exchange for restricting its nuclear program.

The Israeli army spokesman said on Friday that Israeli forces were ready to face Iran, but there was no change in the instructions for the population.

“We’re closely following regional developments and are closely monitoring the public debate on Iran,” Gen. Effie Defrin said in a video statement.

“The IDF is ready and our eyes are open in all directions, and our finger is on the trigger more than ever in the face of any change in operational reality, however, there is no change in instructions,” he said.