President Trump acknowledged on Thursday that there was a significant risk that Israel could soon attack Iran, but he said that “I don’t want them going in” at a moment when progress was being made toward an agreement to shut down Iran’s easiest pathway to building a nuclear weapon.

US President Donald Trump called Thursday on ally Israel not to strike Iran's nuclear sites, saying a deal remained close if Tehran compromises. "We are fairly close to a pretty good agreement," Trump told reporters.

The newspaper cited a senior Israeli official as saying a strike could come as soon as Sunday unless Iran agrees to halt production of fissile material, which can be used to make an atomic bomb. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu raised the possibility of strikes in a phone conversation with U.