Israel assesses damage from Iranian strikes as U.S. weighs military role
(NBC)- Israel is assessing the damage this morning after a new wave of Iranian airstrikes struck multiple locations, including a major hospital in southern Israel and areas surrounding Tel Aviv. The attacks come in response to an Israeli strike on another suspected target within Iran’s nuclear program—part of a broader effort to dismantle Iran’s atomic capabilities.
The latest escalation has placed growing pressure on President Donald Trump, who is weighing whether the U.S. military should join the Israeli-led mission.
“I like to make the final decision one second before it’s due, because things change, especially with war,” Trump said during a recent briefing with his national security team.
While the president has yet to announce a definitive course of action, he acknowledged the possibility of American involvement, stating, “I may do it. I may not do it.”
According to sources familiar with the situation, Israeli strikes may have already delayed Iran’s nuclear ambitions by several months. However, they believe one heavily fortified underground site can only be destroyed using an American-made bunker-busting bomb—raising the stakes for potential U.S. intervention.
Trump hinted that Iran had been given a final warning and that the window for a diplomatic resolution is quickly narrowing—a path that many lawmakers on Capitol Hill still support.
“We don’t need to escalate in Iran,” said Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). “That doesn’t make anyone in the Middle East safer, and it certainly doesn’t make the United States any safer.”
The debate in Washington is dividing Republicans. Some, like Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), argue that military action is necessary if diplomacy fails.
“Either you want them to have a nuclear weapon or you don’t. And if you don’t, if diplomacy fails, you use force,” Graham said.
Others, including Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, have voiced strong opposition to deeper U.S. involvement in the Middle East.
Trump, meanwhile, reiterated a long-standing position: “I don’t want to get involved either but I’ve been saying for 20 years, maybe longer, that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.”
