Trump sought options to attack Iran's nuclear facilities last week

The president was held off by his advisers, who warned of a broader conflict

President Trump asked senior advisers in an Oval Office meeting on Thursday whether he had options to take action against Iran’s main nuclear site in the coming weeks. The meeting occurred a day after international inspectors reported a significant increase in the country’s stockpile of nuclear material, four current and former US officials said on Monday.
 
A range of senior advisers dissuaded the president from moving ahead with a military strike. The advisers — including Vice President Mike Pence; Secretary of State Mike Pompeo; Christopher C. Miller, the acting defense secretary; and Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff — warned that a strike against Iran’s facilities could easily escalate into a broader conflict in the last weeks of Mr. Trump’s presidency.

 
Any strike — whether by missile or cyber — would almost certainly be focused on Natanz, where the International Atomic Energy Agency reported on Wednesday that Iran’s uranium stockpile was now 12 times larger than permitted under the nuclear accord that Mr. Trump abandoned in 2018. The agency also noted that Iran had not allowed it access to another suspected site where there was evidence of past nuclear activity. Mr. Trump asked his top national security aides what options were available and how to respond, officials said.
 

After Mr. Pompeo and General Milley described the potential risks of military escalation, officials left the meeting believing a missile attack inside Iran was off the table, according to administration officials with knowledge of the meeting.

 
US will face ‘crushing response’: Iran

“Any action against the Iranian nation would certainly face a crushing response,” Iranian spokesman Ali Rabiei said, in remarks streamed on an official government website.
 

Trump may order troop cuts from Afghanistan, Iraq
 
Trump is expected to issue a formal order drawing down US troops in Afghanistan and Iraq to 2,500 in each country by January 15, a US defense official said, as the president works to deliver on his pledge to exit from “endless wars.” US Central Command has received an informal warning order, according to the official. The expected order would reduce troops from about 4,500 in Afghanistan and from about 3,000 in Iraq.

Bloomberg