Israel looks to Trump to halt Iranian nuke

Surprising reports emerged on the evening of May 7 about the movements of two foreign ministers. According to the first, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo suddenly canceled a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and ordered his plane to change course for Baghdad. At almost the exact same time, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif boarded his own plane for an unscheduled visit to Moscow. The scramble underscores the drama now unfolding around Iran and how it is sending shockwaves not only across the Middle East but throughout the entire world.

Israeli intelligence sources had raised concerns that Iran would react to growing American pressure by pulling out of the nuclear agreement, or at the very least reducing its commitment to it, including possibly going back to enriching uranium at a limited level. While that activity would not allow for the breakthrough needed to build a nuclear device, it would lay the groundwork for that possibility. On May 8, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced that this was exactly what Iran was planning. If no new understandings are reached to implement the nuclear deal, said Rouhani, Iran will resume enriching uranium within two months.