Washington: Israel’s massive strikes at Iran in the early hours of Friday have put the region and the rest of the world on edge as yet another severe escalation in military conflict is feared.
Even as Iran was left fuming and considered it as a “declaration of war”, US President Donald Trump added fuel to the fire by saying that Israel’s attack has been “excellent” and warned there was much more to come.
“I think it’s been excellent… We gave them a chance and they didn’t take it. 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,” Trump told ABC News.
Asked whether the United States participated in the attack in any way, Trump said: “I don’t want to comment on that.”
Earlier in the day, Trump suggested that Iran had brought the attack on itself by resisting American demands in talks to restrict its nuclear programme.
The US President also urged Tehran to make a deal, warning that the next “already planned attacks” would be even more brutal.
“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. 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 on his social media platform Truth Social.
Israel launched a wave of strikes at about 100 targets in Iran, including its nuclear facilities and military command centres under ‘Operation Rising Lion’.
A number of top military leaders and scientists were killed in the attack.
Israel justified the attack saying it had intel indicating that Iran’s nuclear programme had almost reached the ‘point of no return’.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed to hit back, warning Israel that it faces a “bitter and painful” fate.
