US - Iran conflict : Donald Trump tells Board of Peace meeting he will decide on strikes within 10 days

brisbanetimes.com.au · Feb 19, 2026 · Collected from GDELT

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February 20, 2026 — 4:00amWashington: US President Donald Trump says he will likely decide whether to launch strikes against Iran over the next 10 days, as he continues the biggest American miliary build-up in the Middle East since the invasion of Iraq in 2003.Trump made the remarks in Washington at the first meeting of the Board of Peace, a new international alliance convened by Trump that has so far been snubbed by a number of major US allies, including Australia.Members of the Board of Peace pose with Steve Witkoff, JD Vance, Donald Trump, Marco Rubio and Jared Kushner.AP“Iran is a hotspot right now,” Trump said. “Good talks are being had. It’s proven to be over the years not easy to make a meaningful deal. We have to make a meaningful deal otherwise bad things happen.”The president referred to his strikes in June on Iran’s major nuclear facilities, which he said had decimated the Islamic Republic’s ability to develop nuclear weapons and cleared the way for a deal to end Israel’s war in Gaza.“Now we may have to take a step further, or we may not,” Trump said. “Maybe we’re going to make a deal. But you’re going to be finding out over the next probably 10 days.”The comments followed reports in US media outlets on Wednesday (Washington time) that Trump had been briefed that the US was now militarily ready to strike Iran, given the number of assets surged to the region.The Board of Peace is viewed by some countries as an attempt by Donald Trump to establish a rival United Nations.APThat includes two of the US’s largest aircraft strike carrier groups, the USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Gerald Ford – the latter of which is still on its way – and dozens of aircraft refuelling tankers that were tracked heading toward Europe and the Middle East this week.Trump has previously given false timelines to Tehran. Last June, ahead of the strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, he said he would decide “within two weeks” – but dropped bombs two days later.Meanwhile, representatives of the Board of Peace said progress had been towards securing Gaza, which was the original impetus for the organisation before Trump expanded its remit.Five nations have agreed to commit troops to the United Nations-mandated International Stabilisation Force that will be tasked with securing peace in the wartorn territory: Indonesia, Morocco, Kazakhstan, Kosovo and Albania.FIFA president Giovanni Vincenzo Infantino attended the Board of Peace meeting and tried on a USA cap.APThe force will be commanded by US Major General Jasper Jeffers, who said Indonesia agreed to fill the deputy commander’s post. Egypt and Jordan have agreed to train a Palestinian police force.An ISF brigade would be assigned to each of five sectors in Gaza, Jeffers said: Rafah, Khan Yunis, Deir al-Balah, Gaza City and North Gaza, starting with Rafah in the south.Former Bulgarian minister and diplomat Nickolay Mladenov, the board’s director-general for Gaza, said 2000 Palestinians signed up to join a transitional police force in just a few hours this week.Trump, meanwhile, announced nine Board of Peace members had pledged $US7 billion ($10 billion) towards a Gaza relief package. The Associated Press reported that figure was about a tenth of what was ultimately needed to rebuild the shattered territory after the two-year war between Israel and Hamas.Former British prime minister Tony Blair said Gaza had “vast” potential if its history of extremist and corrupt governance ended.APFormer British prime minister Tony Blair, speaking about the future governance of Gaza, said the territory had “vast” potential, with 40 kilometres of Mediterranean coastline, proximity to regional and global markets and a population whose median age was just 19.Blair pledged that a future Gaza would boast effective public institutions, a tolerant education system and a business-friendly, tech-enabled society – though he provided no details about how this would be achieved.“This is a vision of Gaza as part of the Middle East at peace - not a phony peace of declarations no one means, and agreements no one intends to keep,” he said.Trump’s peace plan remained “the best and only” hope for Gaza, the region and the wider world, Blair said.Palestinians sit at a long table amid the rubble of destroyed buildings as they gather for iftar, the fast-breaking meal, during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.APBillionaire Cypriot-Israeli real estate mogul Yakir Gabay presented an ambitious six-stage redevelopment plan for Gaza, again starting in the south. The coastline, he said, “can be developed as a new Mediterranean riviera with 200 hotels and potential islands”.The inaugural meeting of Trump’s Board of Peace attracted several heads of state from founding members, including the King of Bahrain and the presidents of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Romania and Argentina.Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto confirmed his country would contribute 8000 or more troops to the peacekeeping force in Gaza, and said he was optimistic Trump’s peace plan could succeed. “There will be problems, but we will prevail,” he said.Leaders gathered at the Board of Peace included Vietnam’s Communist Party general secretary To Lam and Hungarian President Viktor Orban.APOther members sent prime ministers or other ministers, including Israel, which was represented by Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, while some countries attended the meeting as “observers”.Numerous US allies were absent, especially from Western Europe. The United Kingdom, France and Germany have rejected joining the board, while Trump rescinded an invitation to Canada.Ukraine refused to join after Trump extended an invitation to Russia, which has not yet agreed to participate.Australia has not made a final decision, but Foreign Minister Penny Wong told Senate estimates that joining the organisation would incur legally binding obligations.“That requires a range of considerations that are quite different to those which apply to other international groupings or commitments we’ve entered into,” she said earlier in February.Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter.From our partners