The United States could strike Iran as soon as this weekend, a senior US envoy said on Friday, in remarks that put a possible new round of the eight-month war on a timetable of days rather than weeks, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
"Could there be a strike this weekend? Absolutely," Tom Barrack, the US ambassador to Turkey and Washington's point man on Syria, told podcast host Mario Nawfal in an interview given while he was visiting the Gulf, AFP reported. Barrack does not have a direct role on the Iran portfolio, a caveat news reports carrying his remarks noted.
Barrack paired the warning with an open door. President Donald Trump "is very clear. He's open and available and accessible to a deal and we've been at the table for months and months and months," he said, according to AFP.
He also drew a line that separates Washington's stated position from Israel's. "If you keep threatening the world, our allies, the Gulf, there will be a consequence. The consequence won't be regime change," Barrack said. "The United States — the president of the United States — has said he's not interested in regime change," he added. "The problem with regime change always is, what's the day-two scenario?"
Source: AFP — US could strike Iran this weekend, envoy says
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces elections on Tuesday, has in recent days repeatedly vowed to topple the clerical state in Iran, following two major bombing campaigns against it since last year, AFP reported.
The envoy's timing also sits awkwardly beside the president's own words. Trump had earlier signalled that renewed strikes would not happen before the US congressional elections on November 3, AFP reported. Asked in Florida about a strike this weekend, Trump appeared to distance himself from his ambassador's remark, saying he did not know anything about it, Indian news outlets carrying the wire reports said.
Hours later, at a rally in Florida, Trump himself kept the military option open, saying the US may carry out another operation against Iran. Read: Trump tells Florida rally US may do 'another little Epic Fury' against Iran
Barrack's comments landed on the same day that eight foreign ministers meeting in Istanbul urged Washington and Israel to avoid renewed attacks on Iran and pursue diplomacy, Al Jazeera reported — a sign of how widely governments in the region and Europe are bracing for a possible escalation.
No strike has been ordered publicly, and Barrack's remark is a statement of possibility, not an announcement. But any renewed US strike on Iran would again put Gulf energy sites, shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and the safety of lakhs of Indian and Punjabi workers across the Gulf states in the frame — which is why even a podcast remark by an envoy moved wires within the hour.
Al Jazeera English also carried the AFP report of Barrack's remarks on Friday, as did news outlets across Asia and the Middle East, underlining how closely the region is watching Washington's next move.