Trump administration special envoy Steve Witkoff has warned Senate Republicans that an Iranian response to an Israel strike on its nuclear facilities could cause massive casualties, Axios reported Thursday, citing a U.S. official and a source with direct knowledge.
A number of recent reports, citing U.S. officials, have said Israel could in the coming days attack Iran's nuclear facilities, The Times of Israel reported. President Donald Trump has called on Israel to hold off on a strike for now, believing a deal on Iran's nuclear program can be reached.
Witkoff is expected to meet with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Oman for a sixth round of talks Sunday. Ahead of the negotiations, Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and Mossad intelligence agency head David Barnea reportedly will meet with Witkoff.
Trump didn't want to say Thursday that an Israeli strike "is imminent" but that "it might very well happen." He stressed he wants to avoid conflict but said that will require concessions that Iran has been unwilling to make.
Witkoff held a closed-door briefing on Iran with a group of Republican senators on June 5, according to Axios. Among them were Sens. James Risch of Idaho, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, John Barrasso of Wyoming and Pete Ricketts of Nebraska, the source with knowledge told the news outlet.
Witkoff told the senators that military strikes by Israel are on the table if no agreement is reached. He then brought up Iran's ballistic missile capabilities. The U.S. is concerned Israel's air defenses couldn't handle an Iranian response involving hundreds of missiles, the sources said.
Such an attack, Witkoff told the group, could cause massive casualties and damage. He also raised concerns about Iran's ballistic missile arsenal during a speech in New York on Wednesday, calling it "as big of an existential threat" for Israel as Iran's nuclear capabilities, Axios reported.
According to U.S. intelligence, Iran has 2,000 ballistic missiles with warheads that can carry 2,000 pounds of explosives or more, Axios reported. Israel is within range of many of those missiles.
On Wednesday, Iran's minister of defense claimed Iran developed a new ballistic missile with a 4,000-pound warhead. The U.S. official told Axios that Iran has significantly increased production of ballistic missiles to about 50 a month since its last ballistic missile strike on Israel in October. The official said Iran's goal is to produce more ballistic missiles than Israel's number of missile defense interceptors.
The U.S. is evacuating nonessential staff from its Baghdad embassy and family members of military personnel from several bases in the Persian Gulf. The State Department imposed security restrictions Thursday on U.S. diplomats and their families in Israel.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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