President Donald Trump is taking two weeks to decide his next move on Iran over concerns that toppling Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei could lead to the Islamic Republic becoming "another Libya," the New York Post reported Thursday.
Officially, the White House said Thursday that Trump is taking two weeks "[b]ased on the fact that there's a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future."
But the Post reported Trump has likened the potential of Iran to de-evolve the way Libya did when dictator Muammar Gaddafi was ousted in 2011 with help from the Obama administration. Trump "doesn't want it to turn into Libya," the Post quoted an insider.
Libya descended into civil unrest and instability following the overthrow of Gaddafi, leading to a civil war in 2014. Four Americans, including the late Ambassador Chris Stevens, were killed in 2012 when an extremist militia group laid siege to the U.S. Special Mission in Benghazi.
"Libya was a much more extended kind of bombing commitment, and it ended up being regime change," the Post quoted another source. "If the regime falls [in Iran], then it's not on Trump, because that's not the goal of his very limited strike."
Trump, although, threatened Khamenei earlier this week while calling on him to surrender.
"We know exactly where the so-called 'Supreme Leader' is hiding," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "He is an easy target, but is safe there – We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now."
CBS News reported Thursday that Trump was mulling his options on whether to employ a bunker-busting bomb on Iran's Fordow fuel enrichment plant near Qom, the nuclear site nestled roughly 300 feet below ground level. Israel does not have bombs that could neutralize the subterranean nuclear site.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.