Pressure grows on Iran as Trump weighs military action

Pressure mounted on Iran Friday as President Donald Trump considered a military strike against the Islamic Republic while U.S. allies in the region, including Israel and several Arab countries, called for restraint.

The Pentagon increased its presence in the region and an aircraft carrier group stationed there was ready to “rapidly fulfill its mission, with speed and violence, if necessary,” Trump said Wednesday on Truth Social.

“They should not be pursuing nuclear capabilities. We will be prepared to provide whatever this president requires from the War Department,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said, using the new Defense Department name adopted by the Trump administration.

On Friday, the New York Times reported that options presented to the president included raids by U.S. forces on sites in Iran, citing several U.S. officials. NBC News was unable to verify these details.

Later, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told a news conference that he was ready for talks to resume with the United States, but that they should be “fair and equitable” and not include Iran’s defense capabilities.

Speaking after a meeting with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, Araghchi said that no negotiations between Tehran and Washington were currently organized and that his country was ready for either negotiations or war.

Trump told Politico earlier this month that it was “time to seek new leadership in Iran” following a brutal crackdown on nationwide protests that left thousands dead, one of the greatest challenges to the Islamic Republic’s hardline government in decades.

Comparisons have been made with the US operation in Venezuela to remove President Nicolas Maduro, but Iran is far more capable of defending itself than the South American country, as it has an arsenal of ballistic missiles that it could use against US troops and bases in the region.

Even so, Iran “doesn’t have a lot of room to maneuver” and “there aren’t a lot of options available to it at this point,” said Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East and North Africa program at Chatham House, a London-based think tank.

She said she believed Iran would “try to buy time” while “leaning on regional states to try to negotiate an outcome.” At the same time, it will try to “build resilience internally” regarding its domestic supply chains, she added.

“They have to manage two simultaneous crises: the possibility of an external war and another possible round of internal protests,” Vakil said.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio acknowledged Wednesday that regime change in Iran would be far more complex than in Venezuela and could leave a power vacuum. “I don’t think anyone can give you a simple answer as to what would happen next in Iran if the supreme leader and the regime fell,” he said.

Fearing the repercussions of regime collapse and U.S. intervention, Israel and its Arab allies have urged the United States not to attack Iran, warning that the regime may not yet be weakened to the point where military strikes would constitute the decisive blow that topples it.

In a report from his call with Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian on Wednesday, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said that “the Kingdom will not allow its airspace or territory to be used for military actions against Iran or for attacks from any party, regardless of their origin.” The United Arab Emirates made a similar commitment in a separate statement on Monday.

Meanwhile, U.S. officials are meeting with Israeli and Saudi officials this week to discuss Iran.

Israeli military intelligence chief Gen. Shlomi Binder was in Washington earlier this week for meetings with U.S. officials on Iran, according to a source familiar with his plans.

And Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman Al Saud was also scheduled to meet with Rubio, Hegseth and other national security officials after arriving in Washington on Thursday, a senior U.S. official confirmed to NBC News.