{"id":236514,"date":"2026-01-14T00:03:17","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T00:03:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/236514\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T00:03:17","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T00:03:17","slug":"israeli-and-arab-officials-have-privately-suggested-u-s-hold-off-on-iran-strikes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/236514\/","title":{"rendered":"Israeli and Arab officials have privately suggested U.S. hold off on Iran strikes"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON \u2014 Israeli and Arab officials have told the Trump administration in recent days that they believe the Iranian regime may not yet be weakened to the point where U.S. military strikes would be the decisive blow that topples it, according to a U.S. official, a former U.S. official briefed on the discussions, a person familiar with the Israeli leadership\u2019s thinking and two Arab officials.<\/p>\n

The Israeli and Arab officials have suggested that President Donald Trump, who is weighing <\/a>military action in Iran in response to the regime\u2019s deadly crackdown on protesters<\/a>, hold back on large-scale strikes for now, with some of them preferring to wait until the regime is even more strained, the sources said. They also noted the situation in Iran is rapidly developing, with the stability of the regime potentially changing quickly in one direction or the other.<\/p>\n

The conversations, which have involved American political and military leaders, underscore the complex dynamic Trump faces as he weighs possible options for U.S. action in Iran. Trump, who is expected hold a meeting Tuesday with his national security team to review options, has threatened Iran with U.S. military action if the regime is killing protesters<\/a>. <\/p>\n

White House officials have said Trump is considering a range of possible options as protests enter their third week, including ones that don\u2019t involve military force. Members of Trump’s national security team held a meeting Tuesday morning on Iran that he did not attend, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., declined to comment.<\/p>\n

A White House official said in a statement, \u201cAll options are at President Trump\u2019s disposal to address the situation in Iran. The president listens to a host of opinions on any given issue, but ultimately makes the decision he feels is best.\u201d The official added that Trump \u201cmeans what he says,\u201d pointing to military action he ordered against Iran in June and earlier this month to capture the leader of Venezuela.<\/p>\n

Trump posted <\/a>a message to protesters in Iran on social media Tuesday urging them to \u201cKEEP PROTESTING \u2014 TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS\u201d and telling them \u201cHELP IS ON ITS WAY.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leavitt said Monday that \u201cairstrikes would be one of the many, many options that are on the table\u201d and \u201cdiplomacy is always the first option for the president.\u201d Iran has signaled a willingness to negotiate with the Trump administration to avert strikes, but Trump posted on social media Tuesday that he\u2019d canceled all meetings with Iranian officials \u201cuntil the senseless killing of protesters STOPS.\u201d The president told reporters on Sunday that a summit between U.S. and Iranian officials was being arranged.<\/p>\n

One of the Arab officials said there is a \u201clack of enthusiasm from the neighborhood\u201d for U.S. strikes in Iran right now. Another expressed concern that \u201cany attack or escalation by Israel or the U.S. will unite Iranians\u201d and noted there was a rally-around-the-flag effect in Iran after the American and Israeli attack there in June.<\/p>\n

Israeli officials have told the Trump administration that while they fully support regime change in Iran, and U.S. efforts to facilitate it, they are concerned that outside military intervention at this moment might not finish the job that protesters have started, the current U.S. official, the former U.S. official and the person familiar with the Israeli leadership\u2019s thinking said.<\/p>\n

They said the Israelis have suggested other types of U.S. action aimed at destabilizing the regime and supporting the protesters could help further weaken the regime to the point where larger strikes could then be decisive. <\/p>\n

Those possible actions include boosting communications for Iranians around the country to circumvent the regime\u2019s internet blackout, increasing or strengthening economic sanctions, launching a cyberattack, or even taking very targeted military action against specific Iranian leaders \u2014 that could help facilitate a broader breakdown in the regime, the sources said.<\/p>\n

The protests, which were sparked by economic grievances as the rial currency crashed and inflation soared, have now morphed into one of the biggest challenges the Iranian regime has faced in the theocracy\u2019s 47-year history, as thousands of people have taken to the streets to demand the end of the ruling clergy.<\/p>\n

The demonstrations began on Dec. 28, with people taking to the streets to protest the regime and the growing economic crisis that has caused inflation and soaring prices in the country. The Iranian government cut internet<\/a> access and phone service in the country last week, making it more difficult for protesters to organize and for the world outside of Iran to see what is happening there and assess the numbers of dead, wounded and imprisoned.<\/p>\n

Reports from inside Iran indicate a rising number of protesters have been killed, with many more injured or arrested, as Iranian security forces continue a bloody crackdown that\u2019s included opening fire on crowds using live ammunition. Iranian authorities have released no official numbers on deaths or injuries.<\/p>\n

The U.S.-based organization Human Rights Activists News Agency said Tuesday morning that about 2,000 people have been killed. More than 16,000 people have been detained, according to the group.<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s Parliament speaker said Sunday that if the U.S. attacks Iran, the American military and Israel would be \u201clegitimate targets\u201d for retaliation. <\/p>\n

Asked Sunday about Iranian threats of retaliation, Trump told reporters, \u201cIf they do that, we will hit them at levels that they\u2019ve never been hit before.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON \u2014 Israeli and Arab officials have told the Trump administration in recent days that they believe the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":236515,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-236514","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=236514"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236514\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/236515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=236514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=236514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=236514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}