The US will “defend itself and Israel” if Iran retaliates for West Jerusalem’s “preemptive” strikes, President Donald Trump has told Fox News. He made the remarks in a phone call with host Bret Baier on Friday morning, according to the network.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) earlier said it struck dozens of targets across Iran, including military installations and a nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the operation aimed to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Iranian media reported that at least five people were killed and 20 injured in Tehran following the strikes. The attack came just two days before the sixth round of US-Iran nuclear talks scheduled for Sunday in Oman.
Trump told Fox News that he had spoken with Netanyahu multiple times in recent days and knew of the planned strikes in advance, adding that “there were no surprises.” He stressed, however, that “the US was not involved militarily” and expressed hope that Iran would return to negotiations.
“Iran cannot have a nuclear bomb and we are hoping to get back to the negotiating table. We will see. There are several people in leadership that will not be coming back,” Trump reportedly said, apparently referring to Iranian officials killed in the strikes.
Iranian media identified the victims as IRGC commander Hossein Salami, Deputy Chief of Army Staff Gholam Ali Rashid, and nuclear scientists Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi and Fereydoon Abbasi.
Trump added that he is monitoring whether Iran will retaliate. The Iranian Army has said it will not tolerate Israeli “aggression” and warned that “a bitter lesson awaits Netanyahu.” Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei stated on Friday morning that Israel “should expect severe punishment.”
“CENTCOM is on high alert, the US will defend itself and Israel if Iran retaliates,” Trump said, according to Fox News.
The White House has not commented on the phone call.
Ahead of the strikes, Trump wrote on Truth Social that the US “remain committed to a Diplomatic Resolution to the Iran Nuclear Issue.”
“My entire Administration has been directed to negotiate with Iran. They could be a Great Country, but they first must completely give up hopes of obtaining a Nuclear Weapon,” he posted on Thursday night.
Daily Telegraph New Zealand (DTNZ) is an independent news website, first published in October 2021. - where this article was sourced.
Iranian media reported that at least five people were killed and 20 injured in Tehran following the strikes. The attack came just two days before the sixth round of US-Iran nuclear talks scheduled for Sunday in Oman.
Trump told Fox News that he had spoken with Netanyahu multiple times in recent days and knew of the planned strikes in advance, adding that “there were no surprises.” He stressed, however, that “the US was not involved militarily” and expressed hope that Iran would return to negotiations.
“Iran cannot have a nuclear bomb and we are hoping to get back to the negotiating table. We will see. There are several people in leadership that will not be coming back,” Trump reportedly said, apparently referring to Iranian officials killed in the strikes.
Iranian media identified the victims as IRGC commander Hossein Salami, Deputy Chief of Army Staff Gholam Ali Rashid, and nuclear scientists Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi and Fereydoon Abbasi.
Trump added that he is monitoring whether Iran will retaliate. The Iranian Army has said it will not tolerate Israeli “aggression” and warned that “a bitter lesson awaits Netanyahu.” Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei stated on Friday morning that Israel “should expect severe punishment.”
“CENTCOM is on high alert, the US will defend itself and Israel if Iran retaliates,” Trump said, according to Fox News.
The White House has not commented on the phone call.
Ahead of the strikes, Trump wrote on Truth Social that the US “remain committed to a Diplomatic Resolution to the Iran Nuclear Issue.”
“My entire Administration has been directed to negotiate with Iran. They could be a Great Country, but they first must completely give up hopes of obtaining a Nuclear Weapon,” he posted on Thursday night.
Daily Telegraph New Zealand (DTNZ) is an independent news website, first published in October 2021. - where this article was sourced.
7 comments:
Trump, the “peace president”- yeah right. Also, a liar, as the CIA, MI6 and Mossad were involved in the planning and logistics of this operation. The US provided the munitions required. Tulsi Gabbard just two months ago, reconfirmed in congress that Iran was not building a nuclear weapon.
Israel and its neoconservative allies in the United States have long attempted to start a war with Iran, a war that neither Israel nor the U.S. can win and will engender self-ferocious blowback.
International law, along with the rights of almost 90 million people in Iran, is ignored just as the rights of the peoples of Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Yemen and Syria were ignored. The Iranians, whatever they feel about their leadership, do not see the United States as allies or liberators. They do not want to be attacked or occupied. They will resist.
In a statement on Friday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said the attack violated both the UN Charter and international law.
What the great deal-maker should be pursuing is getting Iran and other regional powers who have not yet done so to acknowledge the right of existence of the State of Israel with the proviso that Israel withdraws to its 1948 borders and stays there and removes all settlements outside those borders.
Yeah right. The Russians would really know all about how to violate the UN Charter and international law. What a wonderful role model for the world.
chump needs war-he dipped out on valor in Vietnam with those pesky 'bone spurs'.......
Such strong opinions from somebody so confident in the accuracy of his or her comments that he or she prefers to remain anonymous.
In the circumstances, the opinions expressed by this author in this forum lack any degree of credibility and should be dismissed as irrelevant.
Pat Buchanan was saying what's up as far back as the 1990s, when he observed that "Capitol Hill is Israeli occupied territory." How else do we account for the US's apparent inability to tell Israel "no," to reign Israel in, and to not hand over an endless supply of US taxpayer funded weaponry, other than the stranglehold of the Israel Lobby? Far from being a "partnership" (and where have we heard that word before?) it seems Israel is engaged in immense resource-extraction from its "closest ally" for the sole benefit of Israel, and to the detriment of the US.
The Wests, liberal left slanted MSM media are getting their information from Palestinian sources. which are certainly not reliable. This is a war remember and propaganda not truth is promoted.
The US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth told Congress that there was 'plenty of ' evidence Iran was actively moving towards a nuclear weapon. This has been feared for so long that it is about to assemble a nuclear weapon.
The UN's watchdog has now declared Iran is in breach of its non-proliferation obligations for the first time in 20 years.
Also on the other issue of land settlement . a new report by the Israeli land use watchdog Regavin has demonstrated that the 'violent settler 'claim is yet another blood libel. After scouring the UN data base which purports to document all violent breaches in Judea and Samaria , this revealed more than 95% of the incidents of so called ' settler violence ' were actually clashes between Arabs and the Israeli Defence Force., in which no Israeli civilians were involved.
Post a Comment
Thanks for engaging in the debate!
Because this is a public forum, we will only publish comments that are respectful and do NOT contain links to other sites. We appreciate your cooperation.