“There is still time to make this slaughter, with the next already planned attacks being even more brutal, come to an end,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left.”
But that may be a misreading of how past diplomatic success with Iran has worked, analysts said. Iranian hard-liners who are inclined to mistrust Washington need assurances that Trump can credibly prevent Israel from attacking them. Allowing an attack in the middle of negotiations undermines that effort.
“This completely destroys U.S. credibility in negotiations with Iran and potentially in negotiations with other countries,” said Rosemary Kelanic, the director of the Middle East program at Defense Priorities, a think tank that advocates for a more restrained approach to U.S. military engagement. “What value does a U.S. pledge have if it can’t keep Israel at bay?”
Neither Trump nor his top aides made public attempts Friday to hold Israel back from further strikes, though Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday sought to distance Washington from the war effort, saying that Israel had acted alone.
The mixed messages seemed unlikely to be strong enough to halt Israel’s attacks or to persuade Iran not to strike U.S. interests in the region and draw Washington deeper into the war, analysts said.
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