Iran has vowed revenge after Israel launched continued airstrikes against military targets and nuclear facilities. Air raid sirens have sounded across Israel after Tehran launched counterstrikes on major cities, including Tel Aviv.
READ MORE: https://www.thetimes.com/world/middle-east/israel-iran/article/war-latest-news-trump-zddw6lpmt
President Trump said he may or may not strike Iran as he addressed reporters for the first time on Wednesday.
Trump spoke at an event to mark two new flagpoles outside the White House, which he said would be “beautiful” in a post on Tuesday evening. Asked about the possibility of a US strike on Iran, Trump said: “You don’t know that I’m going to even do it. You know, I may do it, I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do. I can tell you this: Iran has got a lot of trouble, and they want to negotiate.”
He also said it was “very sad” to watch the conflict and suggested it could have been avoided. “Why didn’t you negotiate with me two weeks ago?” he asked of Iran. “You could have done fine. You would have had a country. It’s very sad to watch this. I mean, I’ve never, I’ve never seen anything like it”.
Trump also said Iranian officials had expressed a desire to meet with him. “They’ve suggested that they come to the White House. That’s, you know, courageous, but you know it’s like not easy for them to do,” Trump said. Asked if he had given Iran an ultimatum, he said: “You could say so. Maybe you could call it the ultimate ultimatum.”
The US military is “prepared to execute” any decision President Trump might make on matters of war and peace, the defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, said, even as he declined to confirm preparations of strike options on Iran.
“If and when those decisions are made, the Department [of Defence] is prepared to execute them,” Hegseth told the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Read the best of our journalism: https://www.thetimes.com/
Subscribe to The Times and The Sunday Times YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=timesonlinevideo
Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/timesandsundaytimes/
Find us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thetimes
Find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetimes/
#livestream #israel #telaviv #iran
