President Donald Trump is holding a National Security Council meeting on Friday morning in the Situation Room after Israeli strikes on Iran that have put the Middle East on edge.
On Friday morning, the president promised in a Truth Social post that Israel’s next round of attacks on Iran would be “even more brutal,” thereby pressuring Iran to negotiate a deal regarding its nuclear activity.
“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. No more death, no more destruction, JUST DO IT, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE,” Trump said in the post.
Trump said he warned Iran that “the United States makes the best and most lethal military equipment anywhere in the World, BY FAR, and that Israel has a lot of it, with much more to come – And they know how to use it. Certain Iranian hardliner’s spoke bravely, but they didn’t know what was about to happen. They are all DEAD now, and it will only get worse!”
The United States and Iran are due to hold another round of nuclear negotiations this weekend in Muscat, Oman, as the two sides remain divided on whether Iran should be able to enrich uranium at all, even for civilian energy purposes.
It is unclear whether the discussions will continue in light of the incident. Trump has encouraged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold discussions before launching any strikes.
“I think it would blow it,” Trump said on Thursday when asked about a premature Israeli attack. But then, he mused, it “might help it actually, but it also could blow it.”
Following the strikes, Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a statement stressing that the US had no involvement in the strikes and urging Iran not to target US installations. Previously, the US had evacuated non-essential embassy personnel from Iraq, anticipating an imminent assault.
Iran launched around 100 drones toward Israel on Friday morning in a counterattack, which Israel intercepted.
Netanyahu disclosed that during the onslaught against the regime, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) targeted a critical nuclear plant, Natanz.
Among those killed were top nuclear scientists and military leaders, including General Hossein Salami, commander-in-chief of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and Major General Mohammad Bagheri, Iran’s highest-ranking military official and chief of staff of the IRGC, as well as the majority of the IRGC air force high command, who were meeting in an underground bunker at the time.
The initial round of attacks struck more than 100 sites, with 200 Israeli fighter planes delivering “330 different munitions,” according to the IDF, adding that the operations will continue for many days.
During a phone interview, Trump told Fox News’s chief political anchor Bret Baier that he was aware that Israel was going to conduct preemptive strikes on Iran before they happened.
“I just spoke to President Trump. One thing the president was aware of Israel’s action before it happened. He gave me a quote. He said: ‘Iran cannot have a nuclear bomb. We’re hoping to get back to the negotiating table.’ The President is looking to see if there is retaliation… the US will defend itself and Israel if Iran retaliates,” Baier said.
Israeli airstrikes on Iran killed three of the country’s senior military commanders: Hossein Salami, Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), Mohammad Hossein Bagheri, Chief of the Iranian Armed Forces, and Gholam-Ali Rashid, Commander of the Iranian Emergency Command.
Trump stated that he is monitoring for any reprisal, and U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) is on full alert.
He stated that the United States is prepared to defend itself and Israel if Iran retaliates. Recently, the United States has restocked Iron Dome missiles.