A top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee on Thursday expressed relief regarding President Donald Trump delaying his decision on military intervention in Iran for two weeks.
“The fact that we’re not reading about a U.S. attack on Iran right now actually gives me a little bit of comfort,” Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT) said in an interview with independent broadcaster Jim Acosta, published Thursday.
Trump’s approach to Iran comes as Iran and Israel continue trading strikes, prompting the U.N. Security Council to convene an emergency session Friday. Central to the discussions is whether the United States will militarily support Israeli efforts in an offensive capacity in response to what is seen as the rising threat of Iran.
On Thursday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt released a statement from the president, signaling he was still considering his options.
“There is a substantial chance of negotiation that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future,” the statement read. “I will make my decision whether or not to go in the next two weeks.”
The statement from the White House drew sharp criticism from Democrats, who said that Trump’s two-week timeline is an example of his failure to act on his deadlines.
Former Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a self-proclaimed Republican-in-name-only, referenced the popular online meme “Trump Always Chickens Out,” which criticizes Trump for repeatedly issuing vague decision timelines on major issues, only to avoid action altogether. The president has argued that this strategy is part of the negotiation process and helps push his counterparts to come to the table and compromise.
“Just a reminder that Trump was going to announce his sanctions on Russia for not negotiating ‘in two weeks’ about 3.5 weeks ago,” he wrote on X. “Taco.”
But Himes came to Trump’s defense.
“We can sort of joke about TACO, and you know, everything is two weeks or four weeks or never, but I think when you’re talking about war in the Middle East, going slower rather than faster is not a bad thing,” Himes said.
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Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Friday that Tehran has rejected any U.S. attempts to negotiate, linking the refusal to Israel’s airstrikes.
“Americans want to negotiate and have sent messages several times,” Araghchi said. “But we clearly said that as long as this aggression doesn’t stop, there’s no place for talk of dialogue.”