According to the New York Times, Mr Trump asked his advisors last week to explore other ways to target Iran’s nuclear facilities. However, the same report claims top White House officials managed to dissuade Mr Trump, explaining that such actions could cause current tensions to boil over.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Vice President Mike Pence were among the advisors who opposed Mr Trump’s suggestion.
The new outlet wrote: “A range of senior advisers dissuaded the president from moving ahead with a military strike.”
It added: “Any strike — whether by missile or cyber — would almost certainly be focused on Natanz, where the International Atomic Energy Agency reported on Wednesday that Iran’s uranium stockpile was now 12 times larger than permitted under the nuclear accord that Mr Trump abandoned in 2018.
“The agency also noted that Iran had not allowed it access to another suspected site where there was evidence of past nuclear activity.”
The alarming report comes just a week after Mr Pompeo launched an attack on Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, accusing him of stealing “hundreds of millions of dollars from your people”.
He lashed out after Mr Khamenei said the US election showed the “ugly face of liberal democracy”.
Mr Pompeo tweeted: “Khamenei, you’ve personally stolen hundreds of millions of dollars from your people.
“Your elections are a joke, with hundreds of candidates disqualified from even running.
“We welcome the day when the Iranian people get their wish, and you know what that is. That is all.”
Tensions between the two countries had been escalating for some time with an exchange between Mr Pompeo and Mr Khamenei unleashing on the day of the US election.
The war of words saw Mr Pompeo brand Iran as a pariah state that still “holds innocent US citizens today”.
He tweeted: “41 years ago, the Iranian regime took 52 US diplomats hostage for 444 days. We remember their sacrifice.
“The regime still holds innocent US citizens today. The Iranian regime must stop this grotesque hostage campaign and immediately release Morad Tahbaz and the Namazis.”
Mr Khamenei replied to the claims hours later, suggesting the US election was a “spectacle”.
He tweeted: “What a spectacle! One says this is the most fraudulent election in US history.”Who says that? The president who is currently in office.
“His rival says Trump intends to rig the election! This is how US elections and US democracy are.”