The New York Times said that US President Donald Trump asked his advisers if he had options to target a major nuclear site in Iran in the coming weeks, but they discouraged him from the idea of carrying out a military strike.
The newspaper quoted 4 current and former US officials as saying that Trump discussed the matter with his advisers at a meeting in the Oval Office last Thursday, a day after international inspectors announced that they had detected a significant increase in Iran's nuclear stockpile.
The report added that several advisers, including Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller and Chief of Staff General Mark Milley, had warned him that a military strike on Iranian facilities could easily escalate into a full-scale conflict in the final weeks of his presidency.
The newspaper stated that any potential attack - whether missile or cyber - will almost certainly focus on the Natanz nuclear facility.
After Secretary Pompeo and General Milley spoke about the dangers of a military escalation, officials left the meeting believing that the missile attack option inside Iran had been ruled out, according to administration officials familiar with the meeting.
But the same sources added that Trump may still be exploring ways to attack Iran's interests and its allies, including Iraqi militias.