Rogue regime raising risk that U.S. military eventually will be involved in Iran
Iran’s refusal to accept an offer from President Donald Trump to negotiate an end to its nuclear program, which is considered by experts to include nuclear weapons, eventually, is raising the risk that the U.S. military will have to act against that agenda, according to a new analysis.
Con Coughlin, a distinguished senior fellow at the Gatestone Institute and an expert on defense issues, explained in a report at the organization’s website that Trump’s initial offer to negotiate was in a letter he wrote earlier this month.
There, he “indicated he was willing to engage in talks concerning Iran’s nuclear activities. But the letter also contained an explicit warning that any failure by Tehran to respond positively to his overture could lead to direct military action,” the report said.
One report now has documented that Trump had set a “two-month deadline for reaching a new nuclear deal.”
Steve Witkoff, Trump’s envoy, revealed during a Fox News interview that Trump’s approach to Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was intended to avoid direct military action.
He explained, “We don’t need to solve everything militarily… Our signal… to Iran is ‘Let’s sit down and see if we can, through dialogue, through diplomacy, get to the right place.’ If we can, we are prepared to do that. And if we can’t, the alternative is not a great alternative.”
But Iran has declined to answer, and the report suggests Iran simply is trying to wait out the president.
“Meanwhile, U.S. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz has warned that Iran needs to ‘hand over and give up’ all elements of its nuclear program including missiles, weaponization and enrichment of uranium ‘or they can face a whole series of other consequences,’ adding that ‘Iran has been offered a way out of this,'” the report explained.
Trump’s own opinion is that, “You can’t let them have a nuclear weapon.”
He said he hopes for a negotiated solution, because, “if we have to go in militarily, it’s going to be a terrible thing — for them.”
But the report noted Tehran’s decision not to respond “means there is now a very real possibility that the Trump administration is giving serious consideration to launching military action against Tehran.”
Mike Huckabee, nominated as ambassador to Israel, said the threat is very real:
Mike Huckabee says “Iran’s desire” to annihilate Israel is the “appetizer” before targeting “main course” US, adding Iran poses a threat to all Western civilization.
But we know Israel’s the one committing genocide. The real danger is Zionism which is global & must be stopped. pic.twitter.com/dFZhvHWGg7
— Fiorella Isabel (@FiorellaIsabelM) March 26, 2025
And the report warned the chances of the Trump administration authorizing an attack have risen since the U.S. went after Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists in Yemen, and Trump warned Iran he would hold Tehran responsible for more attacks.
Further, the U.S. willingness to act is being pushed by an assessment from the International Atomic Energy Agency that Iran may now have enough material to build five nuclear warheads.
The report said, “So long as the Islamic Republic of Iran indulges in its usual tactic of prevarication in the hope that, by engaging in delaying tactics, it can buy more time to achieve its nuclear ambitions, the credibility of the Trump administration taking direct action against Tehran needs to increase.”
Coughlin cited Iran’s demand for privileges before negotiations, and threat of a “hard slap” to the U.S., “is a classic exercise in the regime’s attempts to play for time.”