Donald Trump has set a two-week deadline to decide whether the US will join Israel’s war with Iran, allowing time to seek a negotiated end to the conflict, the White House has said.
The decision to leave a window for diplomacy came after Israel’s defence minister openly embraced regime change in Tehran as a War-aim.
On a visit to a hospital hit by an Iranian missile, Israel Katz said Iran’s Supreme-Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, “cannot be allowed to exist” and that he had ordered a surge in attacks to “undermine” the Iranian government.
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, later insisted that toppling Iran’s leaders was “not a stated or formal goal”, as the conflict entered its seventh day.
The White House said on Thursday that the US president would “make a decision on whether to attack Iran within two weeks”. It added that correspondence with Tehran had continued and there was still hope of negotiations.
