Israel and Iran launched fresh attacks on each other overnight into yesterday, killing scores and raising fears of a wider conflict.
This is as report indicated that United States (U.S.) President Donald Trump had vetoed an Israeli plan in recent days to kill Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to two U.S. officials yesterday.
After being briefed on the plan, the White House made clear to Israeli officials that Trump was opposed to the Israelis making the move, according to the official who was not authorised to comment on the sensitive matter and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The Trump administration is desperate to keep Israel’s military operation aimed at decapitating Iran’s nuclear programme from exploding into an even more expansive conflict and saw the plan to kill Khamenei as a move that would enflame the conflict and potentially destabilise the region.
Asked about the plan during an interview on Fox News Channel’s “Special Report with Bret Baier,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not directly address whether the White House rejected the plan.
“But I can tell you, I think that we do what we need to do, we’ll do what we need to do. And I think the United States knows what is good for the United States,” Netanyahu said.
The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said top U.S. officials have been in constant communications with Israeli officials in the days since Israel launched the massive attack on Iran in a bid to halt its nuclear programme.
However, Trump said the bombardments could be ended easily while warning Tehran not to strike any U.S. targets.
Iran’s Health Ministry reported 128 deaths and over 900 injured from Israeli strikes since Friday.
Iran also fired ballistic missiles at Israel overnight, killing at least 11 people.
Sirens rang out across Israel after 4 p.m. yesterday in the first such daylight alert, and fresh explosions could be heard in Tel Aviv.
In Iran, images from the capital showed the night sky lit up by a huge blaze at a fuel depot after Israel began strikes against Iran’s oil and gas sector – raising the stakes for the global economy and the functioning of the Iranian state.
Israeli forces earlier struck residential areas in Tehran, hitting a student dormitory on Keshavarz Boulevard and injuring students.
Multiple car bombs also detonated near Tehran government buildings yesterday afternoon.
Iran launched a new missile strike on Israel, prompting the Israeli military to order citizens into bunkers.
Air defences remain active across Iranian provinces as both sides continue exchanging strikes.
Israel launched “Operation Rising Lion” with a surprise attack on Friday morning that wiped out the top echelon of Iran’s military command and damaged its nuclear sites, and said the campaign will continue to escalate in coming days. Iran has vowed to “open the gates of hell” in retaliation.
The Israeli military warned Iranians living near weapons facilities to evacuate.
“Iran will pay a heavy price for the murder of civilians, women and children,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said from a balcony overlooking blown-out apartments in the town of Bat Yam where six people were killed.
An official said Israel still had a long list of targets in Iran and declined to say how long the offensive would continue. Those attacked on Saturday evening included two “dual-use” fuel sites that supported military and nuclear operations, he said.
President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran’s responses will grow “more decisive and severe” if Israel’s hostile actions continue.
Trump urges Tehran not to attack U.S. assets
Israeli skies have been streaked with barrages of Iranian missiles and Israeli interceptor rockets. Some 22 of Iran’s 270 ballistic missiles fired over the past two nights breached Israel’s anti-missile shield, Israeli authorities said.
With worries growing of a regional conflagration and oil prices having shot up, Trump has lauded Israel’s offensive while denying Iranian allegations that the U.S. has taken part in it. He warned Tehran not to widen its retaliation to include U.S. targets.
“If we are attacked in any way, shape or form by Iran, the full strength and might of the U.S. Armed Forces will come down on you at levels never seen before,” he said in a message on Truth Social. “However, we can easily get a deal done between Iran and Israel, and end this bloody conflict.”
Early yesterday, Trump said the sides will have peace “soon”, adding many unspecified meetings were taking place.
Trump has repeatedly said Iran could end the war by agreeing to tough restrictions on its nuclear programme, which Iran said is for peaceful purposes. But Western countries say it could be used to make a bomb.
