US mulls new strikes on Iran: US media reports

WASHINGTON: The United States is weighing new military strikes on Iran, US media outlets reported on Friday.

The reports, from CBS and Axios, come just hours after US President Donald Trump said he would not travel to attend his son’s wedding this weekend due to “circumstances pertaining to government” and his “love for the United States of America.”

Trump said that it was “important for me to remain in Washington, D.C., at the White House during this important period of time.”

Both Axios and CBS said that a final decision on new strikes hasn’t been made.

Negotiations are said to be ongoing, with Pakistan — which is mediating between the US and Iran — sending its military chief to Tehran in an attempt to seal a deal.

The White House did not comment on the reports when AFP inquired about them.

CBS said that a White House spokesperson, Anna Kelly, told them that “the President has been clear about the consequences if Iran fails to make a deal.”

The White House earlier on Friday announced a change in Trump’s weekend plans, saying he would not travel to his New Jersey golf resort as planned but would stay in the US capital instead.

Returning from a trip to New York state where he gave a speech Friday, Trump did not take questions from reporters who travel with him as he often does.

Axios reported — citing two unnamed sources — that Trump has “grown increasingly frustrated about the negotiations with Iran over the past several days.”

Axios said that his position through the week had shifted from favoring diplomacy toward ordering a strike.

CBS reported, citing unnamed sources, that members of the US military and intelligence apparatus were cancelling holiday weekend plans in anticipation of possible strikes.