Despite US President Donald Trump's decision not to attack Iran on Wednesday, multiple sources told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday that he could still green-light military action.
While President Trump declined to address a question from NBC in an interview about whether the strike option is still on the table, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that "all options remain on the table."
Trump is closely monitoring the situation on the ground in Iran, Leavitt added. She also said that Trump and his team have warned Tehran there would be “grave consequences” if killings linked to its crackdown continue.
The White House also claimed that the Trump Administration halted 800 Iranian executions.
Trump told NBC that “we saved a lot of lives yesterday,” referencing his choice of actions on Wednesday.
Trump 'keeping all options on the table' WH says
The US military is preparing for the possibility of strikes and is concentrating forces in the region. The United States is moving the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group from the area around China to the US Central Command (CENTCOM) area of responsibility.
This comes after Trump informed Tehran that the US would not strike the country and asked the Islamic Republic to exercise restraint as well.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump spoke on Wednesday. Notably, this is the same day several diplomats told the Post that they believed that the president would take military action.
"The feeling was that Trump was going to strike," one source said.
An Israeli source declined to elaborate on the conversation and told the Post that Jerusalem "respect[s] Trump's decision."
Mideast nations work to dissuade Trump strike
This comes after reports that officials from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Oman worked "behind the scenes" to defuse tensions between the US and Iran in an attempt to prevent an attack, a source with knowledge of the situation told the Post on Thursday.
Reuters reported on Thursday that Egypt was also involved in the diplomatic efforts.