Donald Trump has responded to Israel’s decision to launch a series of surprise strikes on Iran overnight by threatening the latter country to agree to a nuclear deal – or face further attacks.
Brits woke up this morning (13 June) to the news that Israel had launched numerous strikes on military and nuclear sites across Iran, in an operation it’s calling ‘Operation Rising Lion’.
Missiles struck the Iranian capital, Tehran, as well as nuclear enrichment sites across the country. Several senior Iranian officials and military scientists were also killed in the attacks.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later defended the decision to launch strikes against the Islamic Republic, saying the move was a ‘targeted operation to roll back the Iranian threat to Israel’s very survival’.
Israel’s strikes against Iran included sites in Tehran
Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has since responded by threatening Israel with a ‘severe punishment’.
Iran’s initial response included launching 100 drones at Israel, which the Israeli military says it intercepted.
Never one to shy away from commenting on a global conflict, Donald Trump has now commented on the attacks, issuing a grim warning to Iran.
Taking to his Truth Social platform, the 78-year-old said he’d given Iran numerous chances to make a nuclear deal, which hadn’t been acted on.
“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,” he wrote.
Trump went on to suggest that more strikes would be on the way from Israel, who has access to US military equipment.
Donald Trump issued an ultimatum to Iran over agreeing to a nuclear deal
“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,” he wrote.
“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.”
Speaking about the strikes in an interview with CNN, the US leader went on to add that he’d given Iran a ’60-day warning’, which had now expired.
“I don’t know if you know but I gave them a 60-day warning and today is day 61,” Trump said.
“They should now come to the table to make a deal before it’s too late. It will be too late for them.”
Trump’s comments come after Secretary of State Marco Rubio insisted that America was not involved in the strikes but had been briefed by Israel beforehand.
“Let me be clear: Iran should not target U.S. interests or personnel,” he said in a statement issued to MailOnline.
