White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt provided a massive update on the ongoing conflict between Iran and Israel.
During a press briefing on Thursday, Leavitt revealed that President Donald Trump has not made a final decision on using “bunker buster” bombs on Iran’s Fordow facility and will wait roughly “two weeks” to leave room to negotiate.
“I have a message directly from the president, and I quote. ‘on the fact that there’s a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks,’” Leavitt said.
President Trump told reporters Wednesday that the Iranian government has requested a direct meeting with his administration and is prepared to send a delegation to the White House.
Meanwhile, as Israel continues targeting military and nuclear sites within Iran, it has urged the U.S. to strike the Fordow Nuclear Enrichment Center. Lacking the bunker-buster bombs necessary to destroy the facility, which is deeply embedded inside a mountain, Israel has sought assistance from the United States.
“The entire operation… really has to be completed with the elimination of Fordow,” Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter told Fox News on Friday.
“The destruction or the dismantling of the Fordow nuclear enrichment center, is that a prerequisite for a deal? Is that a red line for you?” a reporter asked the president in the Oval Office on Wednesday.
“No, it’s just something that people talk about having. We’re the only ones that have the capability to do it, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to do it at all,” the president responded. “Yeah, we have the best military equipment in the world. You see that with this fight. We have planes that are undetectable, flying around like, you know, nobody’s able to see him [in] stealth.”
After continuing to praise U.S. military prowess, Trump added: “So we’ll see what happens. I have not, I have not, I’ve been asked about it by everybody, but I haven’t made a decision.”
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The statement follows the president’s assertive remarks against the Iranian regime, where he refuted Axios reports claiming he wanted a meeting to de-escalate the conflict. “I have not reached out to Iran for ‘Peace Talks’ in any way, shape, or form. This is just more HIGHLY FABRICATED, FAKE NEWS!” the president posted on Truth Social.
“If they want to talk, they know how to reach me. They should have taken the deal that was on the table – Would have saved a lot of lives!!!” the post added, which was followed up by another post demanding Iran’s “unconditional surrender.”
“Look, they should have made the deal. I had a great deal for them. They should have made that deal. 60 days, we talked about it, and in the end, they decided not to do it, and now they wish they did it,” Trump told reporters.
“And they want to meet but it’s, you know, it’s a little late to meet but they want to meet and they want to come to the White House. They’ll even come to the White House. So we’ll see,” he said.
Meanwhile, several mysterious cargo planes from China have flown near Iran’s airspace before disappearing from radar, raising concerns that Beijing may be covertly supporting the conflict, according to reports.
Public flight trackers revealed at least three Boeing 747 freighters—often used to transport military equipment and weapons—departing from Chinese cities on Saturday (the day after Israel struck Iran), Sunday, and Monday, according to The Telegraph.
Each plane flew west across northern China, crossed into Kazakhstan, then continued south through Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan before vanishing from radar near Iran.
Although the flight plans indicated Luxembourg as the destination, none of the aircraft seemed to head towards Europe, The Telegraph further noted.
“These cargos cannot but generate a lot of interest because of the expectation that China might do something to help Iran,” Andrea Ghiselli, a lecturer at the University of Exeter who specializes in China’s relations with the Middle East and North Africa, told the outlet.
Beijing has historically supplied Tehran with military equipment, including conventional arms and ballistic missile materials that could potentially be used in nuclear weapons development