After international inspectors shared that Iran has increased its stockpile of nuclear material, President Trump asked his top national security aides if he had options for a military strike against the country's main nuclear site, four former and current U.S. officials told The New York Times on Monday.
Trump made the query during a meeting in the Oval Office on Thursday. On Wednesday, inspectors with the International Atomic Energy Agency said at Iran's Natanz facility, the uranium stockpile is now 12 times larger than what was permitted under the nuclear deal forged during the Obama administration. They also said Iran did not give inspectors access to another area where there was evidence of earlier nuclear activity.
Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller, and Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, all discouraged Trump from taking any action, warning it could lead to a dangerous situation, the Times reports. The advisers believe they got through to Trump and a missile attack inside Iran won't happen, the officials said, but he might still be trying to find a way to hit Iranian allies, including militias in Iraq.
Read more about Trump's views on Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency's report on the country's nuclear program at The New York Times.