Trump unwilling to strike Iran - report

U.S. President Donald Trump does not want to strike Iran, Axios reported quoting sources in the U.S. administration.

A senior U.S. official said Trump "really does not want to do it", noting that in June, when Washington attacked the Islamic republic, the U.S. leader saw Tehran's nuclear program as "a legitimate, imminent threat," but "he does not feel that way here."

Three more officials said they don't believe there's any justification for a military operation now. One official of the U.S. administration said that most of Trump's inner circle is against the move too.

Another Axios source added that launching an operation against Iran now would only undermine the goals of the current American leadership in the region and foreign policy in general.

Israel, on the other hand, is very pro-U.S. operation in Iran. According to Axios, a string of Israeli spies and generals, including Chief of the General Staff Eyal Zamir, have visited Washington in recent days. Zamir briefed Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine on Israel’s offensive and defensive plans in case of war with Iran.

"It's safe to say that nothing came out of that meeting to change his or the president's mind on attacking Iran. It's really the Israelis who want a strike. The president is just not there," a U.S. official said, referring to Caine and Trump.

However, Axios says that due to the increased presence of American forces in the Middle East, the military action plans under discussion "have grown much more ambitious."