US strike on Iran this weekend? ‘Absolutely,’ says Barrack; ‘I have no idea,’ says Trump

The United States could strike Iran as soon as this weekend, a U.S. envoy said Friday, following mounting threats from Washington and Israel.

"Could there be a strike this weekend? Absolutely," Tom Barrack, the U.S. ambassador to Turkey and point man on Syria, who has no direct role on Iran, told podcast host Mario Nawfal.

President Donald Trump "is very clear. He's open and available and accessible to a deal and we've been at the table for months and months and months," Barrack said in an interview during a visit to the Gulf.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces elections Tuesday, has repeatedly vowed in recent days to topple Iran's clerical government, following two major bombing campaigns against the country since last year.

Trump has also signaled openness to resuming strikes after a prolonged diplomatic deadlock, although he previously said they would not take place before the U.S. congressional elections on Nov. 3.

In remarks contradicting Netanyahu, Barrack said the United States was not seeking to topple the Islamic republic, a sworn enemy of the United States and Israel since the 1979 revolution that overthrew the pro-Western shah.

"If you keep threatening the world, our allies, the Gulf, there will be a consequence. The consequence won't be regime change," Barrack said.

"The United States — the president of the United States — has said he's not interested in regime change," he added.

"The problem with regime change always is, what's the day-two scenario?"