Neocons Reportedly Try Killing Trump’s Iran Deal Behind Closed Doors

A band of neoconservatives close to President Donald Trump’s administration are reportedly trying to sway the president away from brokering a nuclear deal with Iran and instead allow an Israeli strike against Tehran, sources familiar with the matter told Politico Tuesday.

A number of neoconservative figures, such as radio host Mark Levin and GOP megadonor Ike Perlmutter, have been lobbying Trump aggressively to at least allow Israeli forces to strike Iranian nuclear facilities instead of pursuing a deal with the Islamic regime to restrict its nuclear program, sources familiar with the situation — including an unnamed intelligence official and an anonymous Trump ally — told Politico. Talks with Iran have been slow to develop as Tehran remains committed to at least having civilian-grade enrichment while Trump has stated that Iran would not be able to enrich uranium under any prospective deal with the U.S.

“They’re trying to push the president to make a decision that’s not what he wants,” a senior administration official told Politico under the condition of anonymity. “There’s clearly a lobby for war with Iran vs. those who are more aligned with the president, that know he is the one that has been able to bring them to the negotiating table.”

U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff’s actions have been a primary target of neoconservatives’ ire; Witkoff is scheduled to meet with Iranian officials once more on Friday or Sunday, according to Politico. Some Trump loyalists have kept an eye on NewsCorp mogul Rupert Murdoch’s papers, suspecting that those publications have negatively covered Witkoff in a deliberate effort to derail the negotiations with Tehran.

“Levin and Murdoch are all over Trump all the time — I actually think they hurt their case because I know Trump,” a longtime Trump confidant told Politico. “Once he’s kind of made his mind up, you can come at it later from a different angle, but you keep pressing, he digs in.”