Donald Trump has issued a stark warning to Iran after Israel launched a number of attacks on the nation’s nuclear sites.
Shortly after 1 am UK time, Israel launched “pre-emptive strikes” against targets in Iran. They attacked nuclear sites in Iran, killing the head of the Revolutionary Guard and nuclear scientists on site.
Israel later declared a state of emergency, with Iran then launching a retaliatory attack involving 100 drones.
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Netanyahu warned citizens to prepare for a “missile and drone attack” in a televised statement. Israel’s Prime Minister goes on to explain that Iran has recently taken steps to weaponise enriched uranium, which is “a clear and present danger to Israel’s very survival”.
The Israeli operation, called ‘Rising Lion’, has killed several Iranian commanders, including the head of the country’s Revolutionary Guard and several scientists.
The international atomic watchdog, the IAEA, says Iran’s uranium enrichment facility at Natanz was among the facilities targeted, but that no increase in radiation levels has been recorded.
The US has said it had no involvement in Israel’s attacks.
However, Trump has called Israel’s strikes against Iran “excellent” during a phone call with ABC News.
“We gave them a chance and they didn’t take it,” says the US president.
“They got hit hard, very hard. They got hit about as hard as you’re going to get hit. And there’s more to come. A lot more.”
When asked if the United States participated in the attack in any way, Trump responded: “I don’t want to comment on that.”
The US President is urging Iranian officials to strike a nuclear deal with the United States, implying that the drawn-out negotiations between the two sides are the cause of Israel’s attack.
“I gave Iran chance after chance to make a deal. I told them, in the strongest of words, to ‘just do it,’ but no matter how hard they tried, no matter how close they got, they just couldn’t get it done,” Trump claimed on social media.
He goes on to warn Iran that there will be more destruction if there isn’t a deal signed soon.
“There has already been great death and destruction, but there is still time to make this slaughter, with the next already planned attacks being even more brutal, come to an end. Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left, and save what was once known as the Iranian Empire,” he added on Truth Social, per BBC.