The escalating conflict between Israel and Iran has now entered its fifth day as the two Middle East nations trade missile barrages and casualties mount on both sides.
In the latest development, Israel says it has killed Ali Shadmani, Iran’s top military commander. Shadmani’s predecessor, Maj. Gen. Mohammed Bagheri, was killed in Israel’s initial barrage of attacks on Friday, June 13. In total, at least 224 Iranians and 24 Israelis have been killed.
After Israel’s initial attacks, which included deploying drones launched from bases secretly built inside Iran, Tehran responded with a missile barrage of its own. On Saturday, Israel expanded its airstrikes to include other targets in Iranian industry as drone attacks on major Israeli cities continued.
Along with Shadmani and Bagheri, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has announced that its strikes have killed Gen. Hossein Salami, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and Iranian nuclear scientists. Israeli intelligence believes Iran was working to develop a nuclear weapon. Israel has reportedly struck more than 250 targets, with Iran retaliating by launching more than 200 missiles.
Following the initial wave of attacks, Secretary of State Marco Rubio released a statement explaining that “Iran should not target U.S. interests or personnel” in retaliation, as the United States was not involved in the offensive.
“Tonight, Israel took unilateral action against Iran,” Rubio said Thursday night. “We are not involved in strikes against Iran, and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region. Israel advised us that they believe this action was necessary for its self-defense.”
The fighting has led to the cancellation of further nuclear negotiations between the U.S. and Iran for the time being. Trump explained on Truth Social on Friday that he gave Iran a “60-day ultimatum” to make a nuclear deal and that Friday was “day 61.” In another post on Saturday, the president echoed Rubio’s statement that the U.S. was not involved in Israel’s military offensive.
“The U.S. had nothing to do with the attack on Iran tonight,” Trump said. “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. However, we can easily get a deal done between Iran and Israel, and end this bloody conflict!!!”
Israel had also planned to kill Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, but Trump reportedly stopped them from carrying through with the plan since Iran has not yet killed an American in the conflict.
In a post on Sunday on Truth Social, the president encouraged Israel and Iran to come to the negotiating table to create a peace deal, similarly to how he helped India and Pakistan come to an agreement.
“Iran and Israel should make a deal, and will make a deal, just like I got India and Pakistan to make, in that case by using TRADE with the United States to bring reason, cohesion, and sanity into the talks with two excellent leaders who were able to quickly make a decision and STOP!” Trump said.
Trump added in a post Monday that Iran should have signed a nuclear deal with the U.S. before the issue escalated to this point and that residents should evacuate Tehran now.
“Iran should have signed the ‘deal’ I told them to sign,” Trump said. “What a shame, and waste of human life. Simply stated, IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON. I said it over and over again! Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!”
The president was in Canada on Monday for the annual G7 Summit with other world leaders, but left early Tuesday morning to return to the White House as ariel strikes continued between Israel and Iran.
French President Emmanuel Macron had originally said that Trump offered a ceasefire deal to Israel and Iran, but Trump pushed back on Truth Social, explaining that Macron was mistaken. Trump stated that his return to the White House “has nothing to do with a Cease Fire” and is “much bigger than that.”
As the conflict continues to escalate, some conservatives have expressed concern that the United States could be drawn into another Middle East war and even criticized Trump’s approach. But Vice President JD Vance has urged trust in Trump’s handling of the situation.
“The president has shown remarkable restraint in keeping our military’s focus on protecting our troops and protecting our citizens,” Vance said in an X post on Tuesday. “He may decide he needs to take further action to end Iranian enrichment. That decision ultimately belongs to the president.”
“Of course, people are right to be worried about foreign entanglement after the last 25 years of idiotic foreign policy,” Vance continued. “But I believe the president has earned some trust on this issue. And having seen this up close and personal, I can assure you that he is only interested in using the American military to accomplish the American people’s goals. Whatever he does, that is his focus.”
Alan Jamison is the pen name of a political writer with extensive experience writing for several notable politicians and news outlets.
Even if Iran had signed the deal, they would have ignored it and continued with their nuclear weapons program.
The democrats and some RINOs still don’t understand Trump. He is president who wants peace and save lives. But if Iran attacks American military personnel
or naval ships or Air Force planes we will retaliate. And support for Israel should be given, by every nation in the world. They are getting their citizens and military personnel killed to save the world from Iran’s aggression. As soon as Iran had the nuclear bomb the first would go to Israel the second to America. Don’t think it wouldn’t happen. Think back of the American hostages they held for 444 days back in 1980’s and who got them home, President Reagan on day one he was sworn in. Think about that, what does that say???
Iran’s Islamic fanatic Mullahs with nukes is a threat to the entire world, not just Isreal! That would destabilize the entire Middle East, initiate a nuke arms race in the region and bring the world even closer to a nuclear war. When you have Islamic fanatics who are not afraid to die for their cause, you truly have instability. Think a suicide bomber with a nuke in NYC, Chicago or LA. Talk about blackmail! Iran must NEVER have nukes!
Vance 2028!
Bravo Israel and Bravo President Trump. You had the balls I did not have, nor Obama had to stop Iranian Terrorism
It seems nothing has change of sixties, Watch Iran over throw the Shah in Iran and replace with religious leader! Now throw into the mess is nuclear weapons, that the region more unstable and Iran became country become the support of terrorism in middle east!
Why would we stop Israel from taking out Khamenei?
Iran should be wiped out, they cannot be trusted. If they let them go they will just come back and do it again.
We should have taken care of Iran back in 1979 when they took our Embassy in Tehran. If we had done our job correctly back then, they wouldn’t be the pain in the butt they’ve been to the world today. Iran should never be allowed to gain nuclear capabilities.
I wouldn’t trust Iran to hold to any deal, no matter what. Tread lightly Mr President, they can never be trusted.
I trust both, Israel’s Prime Minister and our President, and of course no thinking person wants war; this Iran needs to understand that Israel and America have taken their threat to kill us to heart and are ready to stop them. Don’t confuse President Trumps urge to diplomacy as a sign of weakness. His treatment of Iran will be pivotal, directly where it needs to be directed, and Iran better not try to take advantage of our country.
I voted for President Trump and thus far support most of his agenda. However, I view his threat on Iran to join Israel as warmongering and a betrayal of his America First policy as he seems to have sold out to some of the Israel First billionaires that helped to get him elected.
The American public is being sold the same playbook as was pushed on us last time under Bush with the Iraq conflict and the so-called “weapons of mass destruction” hoax.
Tulsi Gabbard in March has reported a different picture than what is being presented to us now. What gives?
This is Israel’s war, not ours. Iran is no threat to us and neither was Iraq. Trump “wrings his hands” over Iran making nuclear weapons and has been telling us for years that they are just days or weeks away from making them.
Well look at all the enemies who already have them: Russia, China, North Korea and Islamic Pakistan, Iran’s neighbor.
It would be little wonder that Iran would want nuclear weapons while Israel is bristling with them. Israel stole our atomic secrets in the late 1950’s and when President Kennedy was elected he wanted stop them from achieving nuclear ambitions. Israel, our so-called “ally”, played its dirty hand in his assassination as declassified documents reveal. This paved the way for the utterly corrupt Johnson regime.
In 1967 during the Mid-East conflict at that time, it was this “ally” who attacked and tried unsuccessfully to sink our naval communication ship USS Liberty and tried to blame it on Egypt. This act of war Johnson ordered swept under the rug with a gag order on the sailors.
Friends like that make Iran, Iraq, Libya & Syria seem tame. There has been nothing but trouble since the forcible creation of Israel in 1948. Over the years, it has been our lop-sided support for Israel that has caused all these wars and our involvement with them.
And over these decades of US military intervention in the Mid-East, America has achieved nothing but Israel achieves their objective of eliminating their enemies while the world hates us for it.
The Israel lobby in our congress and the Israel First billionaires are the “tail that wags the American dog”. Then on top of that you add the religious fanatic politicians like Mike Huckabee & Ted Cruz along with warmongers like Lindsay Graham, Mike Pompeo, Niki Haley etc. and their ilk into the mess and you really have a Pandora’s Box.
If we want to encourage peace, Israel’s aggression needs to be brought to heel. If we want to talk about “no nukes” in the region, we need to de-nuclearize Israel. Then, Iran would have no argument to pursue them.
Trump ran on negotiating peace and no more foreign wars, especially for another country’s benefit. Supporting Israel is not America First. Going to war threatens everything that Trump wants to achieve for our country.
I so love our vice president. Truer words, we are sick of our fighting and the killing and maiming of our best and brightest, not to mention our dollars! I do support our greatest ally, Israel, as it is our main line of defense against this Iranian dictator. We’re next on his list if he gets his nuclear. He has said as much, we need to believe him.
This yesterday’s news.
You guys need Israel to be annihilated in a holy war in order to be raptured, right? Must be exciting times.
Who is advising the president? I think he still has traitors in his office and needs to get rid of them. I don’t think he is being advised about the true state of affairs with the wars. He is supposed to be the peace president. That is partly why we voted for him. I am not for our military to be involved in another forever war!!!
So, little bittie Marco Rubio demands of Iran to not target American personnel or operations centers while swelling with pride about Israel targeting Iranian government officials. If I were an Iranian I would target little bittie Marco as we are complicit in Israels attempted initiation of WW3 providing that genocidal nation with all the money and weaponry and targeting data their black hearts desire. Fair is fair after all and why waste munitions on taking out Netanyahu when the corrupt old demon is already busy dying from a nasty case of colon cancer.
Trump has lied to us folks. The “Peace President” has now become a totally owned stooge of the military industrial complex and Trump isn’t even the main mover and shaker of our foreign policy it seems. That role appears to have been taken by the last closeted homo in D.C., Lindsay Graham. The campaign lies by President Trump are piling up. We continue to provide targeting data to the Nazi regime in Ukraine, we are still getting our social security RE payments taxed again and when you get past the mainstream media propaganda its obvious this country is teetering on the edge of financial collapse of the sort that puts to shame all those stories our grandparents told of the Great Depression.
I’m also getting damned tired of this social media President. My God, the nation needs a full time President, not some a** clown that calls everything “beautiful” while beating himself black and blue patting himself on the back for failure after failure.
The single positive about this Trump Administration is that it is NOT the Kamela Harris Administration. I guess Trump threw a rod or something from spending day after day from 2020-2024 in court fighting fake charge after fake charge but the nation is in too deep of a peril to allow for excuses.
Toss the damned phone Donald and do your job for your boss, the American people.
If Trump would have told us he’d start a war in 5 months, I wouldn’t have voted for him.