Report: Trump delayed Iran strike due to concerns over creating 'another Libya'

US President Donald Trump is reportedly delaying a decision on potential US involvement in airstrikes against Iran due to a significant concern about creating "another Libya" if the Iranian regime is toppled, The New York Post reported on Thursday.

According to the report, the President has specifically referenced Libya's descent into anarchy following the 2011 NATO campaign to oust Muammar Qaddafi.

Sources close to the administration revealed President Trump's apprehension to The New York Post. One insider stated, "Trump doesn't want it to turn into Libya." The President has privately expressed worries about Iran becoming unstable, drawing parallels to the situations in Afghanistan and Iraq as well.

While some reports suggest President Trump might favor limited airstrikes targeting Iran's Fordow and Natanz nuclear facilities with "bunker buster" bombs, distinct from those carried by Israeli jets, the specter of "Libya" looms large.

A source told The New York Post, "Libya was a much more extended kind of bombing commitment, and it ended up being regime change." This source further expressed concern about inadvertently installing "somebody worse than Khamenei" if the current regime falls.

"As far as President Trump goes, he's not going to get in the business of who runs Iran, that's very salable to his base," the source added.

The report came after White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated on Thursday that Trump will decide whether to become directly involved in Israel's military operation in Iran within the next two weeks.

She added that the President is also considering "a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future."

Leavitt reiterated that "the President's top priority right now is to ensure that Iran can not attain a nuclear weapon and providing peace and stability to the Middle East."