{"id":267274,"date":"2026-01-31T15:04:33","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T15:04:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/267274\/"},"modified":"2026-01-31T15:04:33","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T15:04:33","slug":"if-trump-does-not-strike-the-regime-will-grow-stronger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/267274\/","title":{"rendered":"If Trump does not strike, the regime will grow stronger"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a closed-door meeting held last night in Washington, Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman warned that at this stage, if U.S. President Donald Trump<\/a> does not follow through on his threats and strike Iran<\/a>, \u201cthe ayatollah regime will only grow stronger.\u201d The remarks were reported by Axios on Friday morning, citing four sources who attended the meeting.<\/p>\n

According to the sources, bin Salman stressed that after Trump\u2019s repeated threats, he would ultimately be forced to take military action, while also seeking to reduce the risk of regional escalation.<\/p>\n

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1 View gallery <\/p>\n

\"\u05de\u05d7\u05d0\u05d4<\/a>\"\u05de\u05d7\u05d0\u05d4<\/p>\n

If Trump won’t follow through on his threats the ayatollah regime will only grow stronger <\/p>\n

(Photo: Anonymous\/Getty Images, AP\/Carlos Osorio, AFP\/HO\/Khamenei.IR\/Evelyn Hockstein\/ Jonathan KLEIN)<\/p>\n

The meeting, which lasted about an hour, included some 15 Middle East experts from research institutes and representatives of five Jewish organizations. Two sources said the Saudi defense minister conveyed a similar message in his meetings at the White House a day earlier. At the same time, he said during the gathering that he does not know what the Trump administration\u2019s current strategy or intentions toward Iran are.<\/p>\n

During those White House meetings, bin Salman met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Trump\u2019s envoy Steve Witkoff and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine. A source familiar with the details said the main focus of the discussions was the possibility of a US strike on Iran.<\/p>\n

Earlier on Friday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian called to \u201clisten to peaceful protesters,\u201d but accused \u201cthose who want to ride the wave of protests to divide the country and incite unrest.\u201d He said, \u201cWe are committed to walking the path of justice and standing like a wall against those lying in wait for the Iranian people, from within the country and from outside.\u201d<\/p>\n

US President Donald Trump<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi added that \u201cthere is currently no serious basis for negotiations. For talks to be genuine and productive, the atmosphere of threats and pressure must first be removed. If any attack occurs, our response will be harsh and very powerful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, against the backdrop of Trump\u2019s threats, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman spoke with Iranian President Pezeshkian and told him that Saudi Arabia would not allow the use of its territory, land or airspace, for an attack against Tehran. The Saudis thus joined the United Arab Emirates, which issued a similar statement two days earlier.<\/p>\n

Trump, for his part, said Friday night that the Islamic Republic wants a deal. \u201cI can say this, they do want to make a deal. I hope it happens,\u201d Trump told reporters at the White House, while warning, \u201cIf there is no deal, we\u2019ll see what happens.\u201d When asked whether Tehran has a deadline to reach an agreement, he replied, \u201cOnly they know for sure. I\u2019ve delivered the message to them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Iranian opposition claim: The strike is coming and aims to topple the regime<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the opposition-linked news outlet Iran International reported Friday morning, citing a Western source who attended meetings between American and Israeli officials, that the emerging assessment is that a US strike against Iran is expected to take place soon.<\/p>\n

According to the source, the question is not whether a strike will occur, but when. \u201cThe decision has been made, and now they are waiting for a suitable operational opportunity, which could arise within days, or possibly weeks,\u201d the source said.<\/p>\n

The source added that unlike in the past, the goal of the strike this time is not to reach a new agreement with Iran, but to severely weaken the regime to the point of collapse. To that end, he said, a fundamentally different type of attack is being planned, in scope and intensity that Iran has never experienced before. \u201cThis time, it will be an unprecedented attack,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He added that during the exchanges of fire in the \u201c12-day war,\u201d Israel and the United States avoided taking significant risks, but \u201cnow the picture has changed.\u201d In his assessment, Washington and Jerusalem see the current situation as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and there is therefore a willingness to take far greater risks.<\/p>\n

If Israel joins the move, the source said, and there are existing plans for such involvement, the scale and intensity of the attack would be far broader.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In a closed-door meeting held last night in Washington, Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman warned that at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":267275,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-267274","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\/267274","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=267274"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267274\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/267275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=267274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=267274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=267274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}