As the Trump administration continues to negotiate with Iran, debate is reportedly raging behind closed doors. While some officials are remaining cautious, others are reportedly advocating for preemptive strikes against Tehran.

From Just the News. As talks with Iran proceed, a debate is raging inside and outside the Trump administration as some argue to give negotiations more time while hawks favor using military action to preemptively bomb Tehran’s nuclear weapons sites.

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Recent news reports have suggested that National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are leading the hawkish camp as Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Vice President JD Vance lead the more cautious side. …

A more robust debate has been raging outside the administration, led by influential conservatives like TV and radio host Mark Levin, a longtime defender of Israel who recently was appointed by President Donald Trump to the Homeland Security Advisory Council.

Levin has vocally criticized the Trump administration’s pursuit of negotiations with Iran …

Further negotiations ahead

Holy Saturday brought a fortuitous development for those talks as Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Trump Special Envoy Steve Witkoff met in Rome and agreed to enter further negotiations. Oman Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi moderated the talks. …

The details of a potential deal remain hazy at present, though the Omanis signalled the end goal was the elimination of sanctions on Tehran and, of course, the prevention of the regime’s development of nuclear weapons.

Levin, however, has warned that pursuing such talks would constitute a mistake, saying “[t]he isolationist-appeasers are pushing a monumental blunder,” he said.

Out in public

Officially, the Trump administration’s senior officials are behind the president’s efforts to secure a diplomatic resolution to the nuclear issue and even the Iran hawks are toeing the line on the matter in the public eye.

“What President Trump’s been crystal clear that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon, that all options are on the table, but he absolutely prefers making a deal, and we’re getting positive indications in that regard,” national security advisor Mike Waltz said in a Tuesday interview on Just the News, No Noise. …

… Rubio, for his part, echoed Waltz’s sentiments on Wednesday, saying “we do not want to see war. This is not a president who campaigned on starting new wars.” …

Behind closed doors

The negotiations approach does appear to have its fair share of private doubters. Last week, The New York Times gave a glimpse of the apparent internal division on Iran strategy with an article titled “Trump Waved Off Israeli Strike After Divisions Emerged in His Administration”.

Whereas the article painted Waltz as cautiously open to the Israeli strike, it positioned Vance, Hegseth, and Gabbard as key opponents to such a move. The article painted the divide as far from sharp, highlighting that even Waltz was skeptical of the viability of the Israeli plan, despite his greater interest in such a strike. …

Enrichment vs. Imports

At the core of the debate over Iranian progress toward a nuclear weapon is the issue of uranium enrichment. Rubio made clear that the United States does not object to the creation of an Iranian civil nuclear program focused on power generation. He did, however, highlight that Iran’s pursuit of domestic enrichment of nuclear materials would make it the only country in the world with enrichment capabilities and no weapons program. He suggested that such a situation would not last. …

But while some seem more willing to at least entertain the diplomatic approach, the most aggressive among them expect military action to come as a matter of course.

“In the end, Israel will need to take out those Iranian nuclear sites regardless of who does or does not support them and regardless of negotiations,” Levin posted Tuesday. …

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(Excerpt from Just the News. Photo Credit: Official White House Photo by Molly Roberts)