Donald Trump has been weighing one of the most fateful choices of his presidency. Without direct US military assistance, Israel’s strikes on Iran may be unable to destroy enough of the Islamic republic’s nuclear programme to prevent it from dashing for a bomb. Yet direct American involvement would risk sucking the US into what Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clearly sees as a quest for regime change in Iran. The consequences could be an escalating conflict that would destabilise the whole region — and beyond.
唐纳德•特朗普(Donald Trump)一直在权衡他总统任期内最重大的抉择之一。如果没有美国的直接军事援助, 以色列对伊朗的打击可能无法摧毁这个伊斯兰共和国足够多的核项目,从而阻止伊朗铤而走险制造核弹。然而,美国的直接介入则有可能让美国被卷入以色列总理本雅明•内塔尼亚胡(Benjamin Netanyahu)明确认为是寻求让伊朗政权更迭的行动之中。其后果可能是冲突不断升级,导致整个地区乃至更广范围的动荡。