Trump risks opening 'Pandora's Box' with Iran, analyst warns
3 Min Read
As tensions escalate, Iran's Leader Sayyed Ali Khamenei warns of devastating consequences if the US joins "Israel’s" war on Iran.
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Iranian protesters chant slogans as one of them holds up a poster of Sayyed Ali Khamenei in a gathering in Tehran, Iran, on June 13, 2025 (AP)
US President Donald Trump is at a pivotal crossroads, facing a choice between a diplomatic off-ramp or launching what could become a war of choice, according to Ellie Geranmayeh, senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, speaking to CNN.
“Leaders always have a choice in these moments,” she noted. “Trump has, in the past, stepped back from the brink of war with Iran, he has the ability to do so again.”
Geranmayeh warned that if Trump orders a strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, Tehran would treat it as a "declaration of war."
“Once you open up this Pandora’s box, we have no idea where things go,” she cautioned, adding that it would “most likely consume the rest of President Trump’s presidency.”
Trump has openly rejected a key intelligence assessment on Iran’s nuclear capabilities, instead aligning himself more closely with the Israeli occupation's aggressive stance.
The assessment, delivered in March by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, stated that Iran is not currently developing a nuclear weapon and that Leader Sayyed Ali Khamenei has not reauthorized any weapons program since suspending it in 2003.
“The IC continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon,” Gabbard said during her March testimony. “Supreme Leader Khamenei has not authorized the nuclear weapons program that he suspended in 2003.”
However, when pressed how close he believed Iran had been to obtaining a nuclear weapon, during an exchange with a CNN reporter on Tuesday, in light of Gabbard's testimony earlier this year, Trump dismissed those findings outright. “I don’t care what she said,” he replied. “I think they were very close to having one.”
Sayyed Khamenei warns of dire consequences if US joins war on Iran
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution and the Islamic Republic of Iran, Sayyed Ali Khamenei, warned the United States on Wednesday against engaging militarily in support of the Israeli occupation’s war on Iran, threatening that such a move would "bring forth repercussions they could never mend."
"The Americans should know that any military intervention will have irreparable consequences for them," Sayyed Khamenei said, adding that "the US knows that intervention in Israeli aggression on Iran will leave them damaged far more than they could do to Iran."
He described US involvement as a clear indication of the Israeli occupation’s strategic weakness, saying, "The United States’ involvement in the aggression alongside the Israeli entity is an indication of the entity's weakness."
Sayyed Khamenei firmly stated that "the Americans must know that the Iranian people will not surrender or submit to dictates and threats," emphasizing Iran’s policy of reciprocal defense, "War will be met with war, bombardment with bombardment, strikes with strikes."
He condemned the Israeli occupation's actions, which he described as a "grave mistake" that will be punished. Additionally, Sayyed Khamenei emphasized that Tehran had anticipated US involvement long before the current escalation began, saying, "We had anticipated in advance that the United States would intervene alongside the Israeli aggression, and this is becoming clearer day after day."
