Lawrence Wilkerson, a former chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell, said in an interview Tuesday, before President Donald Trump’s State of the Union speech, that he does not believe the president wants to go to war with Iran, despite the massivemilitary build-up in the Middle East.

“He’s caught between [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] ‘Bibi’ Netanyahu on the one hand, and Miriam Adelson and other like her on the other,” he told the Dialogue Works podcast. He said Trump understands that he relies heavily on the Jewish lobby in the U.S. to carry elections, and will need that support going into the 2026 Midterm Elections, given his poor poll numbers, if he has any chance of keeping the House and Senate.

“We’ve got all these factors playing on this, in addition to: this is really fraught with potential for disaster,” he said.

Wilkerson said if a major war between the U.S. and Iran breaks out, the carriers positioned in the region would be “dead.”

“So, each one of those ships is gone if it starts,” he said. “Who wants to see, especially if you're the president, front page, above the fold, right side of The New York Times: ‘USS… Sunk With All Hands On Board.’”

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He said all of these concerns are likely reaching Trump through leaders like Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Wilkerson noted how the U.S. has not won a war in a long time, and he believes Trump is being told, behind the scenes, that a war with Iran would not be a cakewalk — “it might not be anything close to a cakewalk.”

Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s top diplomat,postedon X Tuesday that Iran will resume talks with the U.S. in Geneva later this week “with a determination to achieve a fair and equitable deal — in the shortest possible time.”

“Our fundamental convictions are crystal clear:Iran will under no circumstances ever develop a nuclear weapon; neither will we Iranians ever forgo our right to harness the dividends of peaceful nuclear technology for our people,” he posted. “We have a historic opportunity to strike an unprecedented agreement that addresses mutual concerns and achieves mutual interests. A deal is within reach, but only if diplomacy is given priority.”

Source: Trends in the News