{"id":303699,"date":"2026-02-22T01:33:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T01:33:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/303699\/"},"modified":"2026-02-22T01:33:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T01:33:14","slug":"trump-administration-divided-on-possible-strike-as-iran-warns-us-its-skilled-at-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/303699\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump administration divided on possible strike as Iran warns US it’s ‘skilled at war"},"content":{"rendered":"

Iran\u2019s leadership<\/a> on Saturday escalated warnings to the United States against launching a military strike, as President Donald Trump weighs possible action amid internal debate in Washington and political pressure ahead of November\u2019s midterm elections.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmerica knows that Iran does not seek war, but is skilled in managing it,\u201d said Ebrahim Azizi, head of the Iranian Parliament\u2019s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee.<\/p>\n

In a post on X, Azizi warned: \u201cAny reckless action against Iran will be met with a regrettable response. We will not yield to threats.\u201d He attached an image showing Iranian missiles launched toward Israel<\/a> in October 2024.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are capable of overcoming the current stage. Victory will belong to our resilient people,\u201d Pezeshkian said. \u201cWe will not bow our heads despite pressure from world powers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Iranian media highlight military capabilities<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s state-affiliated Fars News Agency published multiple reports emphasizing the country\u2019s military capabilities, amid Revolutionary Guard exercises in the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n

Fars reported on what it described as Iran\u2019s long-range air defense system operating from the sea. Press TV, in Hebrew-language posts on Telegram, released footage it said showed the country\u2019s first long-range naval air defense system in use.<\/p>\n

The messaging comes as the world awaits Trump\u2019s decision on whether to order a strike on Iran.<\/p>\n

Trump orders buildup as advisers debate<\/p>\n

Trump has ordered a substantial buildup of U.S. forces in the Middle East and preparations for a possible air campaign that Reuters reported could last \u201cseveral weeks.\u201d The president has repeatedly threatened to strike Iran if it does not agree to a new nuclear deal.<\/p>\n

According to Reuters, Trump has not publicly laid out in detail why he might lead the United States into what would be its most aggressive action against Iran since 1979.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

A senior White House official told Reuters that despite Trump\u2019s rhetoric, there is no \u201cunified support\u201d within the administration to proceed with an attack.<\/p>\n

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said advisers are wary of sending a \u201cdistracted message\u201d to undecided voters who are more concerned about the economy than foreign policy.<\/p>\n

Another White House official told Reuters that Trump\u2019s foreign policy \u201chas directly translated into wins for the American people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of the President\u2019s actions put America First \u2014 be it through making the entire world safer or bringing economic deliverables home to our country,\u201d the official said.<\/p>\n

Political risks ahead of midterms<\/p>\n

November\u2019s midterm elections will determine whether Republicans retain control of both chambers of Congress.<\/p>\n

Reuters reported that some of Trump\u2019s advisers want him to focus more heavily on economic issues, which polling shows remain top concerns for American voters. At a private briefing this week attended by Cabinet secretaries, economic issues were described as the top campaign priority. Trump did not attend, according to Reuters.<\/p>\n

Republican strategist Rob Godfrey told Reuters that a prolonged conflict with Iran would pose political risks.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe president has to keep in mind the political base that propelled him to the Republican nomination \u2014 three consecutive times \u2014 and that continues to stick by him is skeptical of foreign engagement and foreign entanglements because ending the era of \u2018forever wars\u2019 was an explicit campaign promise,\u201d Godfrey said.<\/p>\n

Trump reiterated Friday that Tehran \u201cbetter negotiate a fair deal\u201d regarding its nuclear program.<\/p>\n

During the so-called \u201c12-day war\u201d in June, the United States targeted nuclear sites in Iran. Tehran has warned it would respond forcefully if attacked again.<\/p>\n

A second White House official told Reuters that Trump \u201chas been clear that he always prefers diplomacy, and that Iran should make a deal before it is too late,\u201d adding that Iran \u201ccannot have a nuclear weapon or the capacity to build one, and that they cannot enrich uranium.\u201d<\/p>\n

Polls show limited public appetite in the United States for another foreign war. Reuters noted that while foreign policy has historically not determined midterm outcomes, Trump\u2019s large-scale military deployments \u2014 including aircraft carriers and warplanes sent to the Middle East \u2014 may narrow his room for maneuver if Iran does not make significant concessions.<\/p>\n

For now, Iran\u2019s leadership continues to warn that any strike will be met with retaliation, while Washington debates the costs \u2014 military and political \u2014 of escalation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Iran\u2019s leadership on Saturday escalated warnings to the United States against launching a military strike, as President Donald…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":303700,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-303699","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\/303699","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=303699"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303699\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/303700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=303699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=303699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=303699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}