United States President Donald Trump will decide within the next two weeks whether Washington will get involved in the conflict between Israel and Iran, the White House said on Thursday.

The remarks came amid speculation about the US joining Israeli military operations in Iran.

During a media briefing, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt quoted a message from Trump: “Based on the fact that there’s a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks.”

The president’s priority was to ensure that Iran did not develop a nuclear weapon, Leavitt added.

The US administration has said that Iran has “never been closer” to building a nuclear weapon, BBC reported.

On Wednesday, Trump declined to confirm plans about his involvement in the conflict.

“I may do it, I may not do it,” he told reporters. “I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do. I can tell you this, that Iran’s got a lot of trouble, and they want to negotiate.”

Washington is an ally of Israel and acts as a guarantor of the country’s security.

Hours later, Saeed Khatibzadeh, Iran’s deputy foreign minister, told BBC that it would cause “hell” in West Asia if the US got involved. “This is not America’s war,” Khatibzadeh added.

The developments came as Israel and Iran continued to exchange fire.

On Thursday, the Israeli military announced that it had targeted the Arak nuclear reactor in Iran and struck what it claimed was a nuclear weapons development site in the Natanz area.

The Arak facility is a partially-built heavy-water research reactor.

The latest round of the conflict between Israel and Iran started on June 13 when the Israeli military struck what it claimed were nuclear targets, and also other sites, in Iran with the aim of stalling Tehran’s nuclear programme. Iran retaliated with missile attacks on Israel.

The attacks have led to concerns of a wider conflict in the region.

On June 15, Iran had said that 224 persons had been killed in the conflict. However, Washington-based rights group Human Rights Activists has claimed that Israeli strikes have killed at least 657 persons in Iran and injured more than 2,000 so far, the Associated Press reported.

In Israel, at least 24 persons have been killed in Iranian attacks so far.

Israel has claimed that Iran was “closer than ever” to obtaining a nuclear weapon, and said it had no choice but to “fulfil the obligation to act in defence of its citizens”. Iran has long maintained that its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes.