NEW DELHI: Backed by US President Donald Trump’s Israel attack on Friday morning on Iran’s nuclear installations killing nuclear scientists along with top commanders of the Armed forces seems to be pushing the planet earth towards the Third World War.
Even while Russia-Ukraine war seeing no end despite Trump’s promise of bringing the two to negotiating table, Israel’s inhuman war on Palestinians in Gaza and heightened tensions between India and Pakistan, Israel’s attack on Iran is highly provocative move.
US President Donald Trump’s madness was clearly on display when he on Friday said that Israel’s attack on Iran has been “excellent” and warned there was much more to come. Trump is not realising that his actions are pushing the world to another global conflagration similar to two world wars fought in the 20th century.
Israel on Friday morning launched a wave of strikes at about 100 targets in Iran, including its nuclear facilities and military command centres.
“I think it’s been excellent,” Trump told ABC News. “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.”
On a question of whether the United States participated in the attack in any way, Trump said: “I don’t want to comment on that.”
Trump suggested that Iran had brought the attack on itself by resisting US demands in talks to restrict its nuclear programme.
He 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,” he wrote on Truth Social.
“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,” he added.
Israel launched a wave of strikes at about 100 targets in Iran, including its nuclear facilities and military command centres under ‘Operation Rising Lion’. Several top leaders of Iran’s military and scientists were also killed in the attack.
Justifying the move, Israel said that it had intel indicating that Iran’s nuclear programme had almost reached the ‘point of no return’.
On the other hand, Iran has called Israeli strikes a “declaration of war” with its supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warning Israel that it faces a “bitter and painful” fate.
The Israeli Air Force conducted airstrikes on Iran on Friday, with explosions being heard across Iran’s capital Tehran. Israeli defense minister Israel Katz declared a special state of emergency across the entire country, according to Axios.
People in Tehran, Iran, awoke to the sound of the blast. State television acknowledged the blast. Israel Katz said schools would be closed in the country on Friday.
There was no immediate word on what was struck.
Benchmark Brent crude spiked on the attack, rising over 2%.
“Tonight, Israel took unilateral action against Iran. 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. President Trump and the Administration have taken all necessary steps to protect our forces and remain in close contact with our regional partners. Let me be clear: Iran should not target U.S. interests or personnel.”
As the explosions in Tehran started, Trump was on the lawn of the White House mingling with members of Congress. It was unclear if he had been informed but the president continued shaking hands and posing for pictures for several minutes, news agency Associated Press reported.
Meanwhile, Israel’s military said Iran launched about 100 drones toward Israel on Friday and that it was making an effort to shoot them down, following a wave of Israeli air strikes across the Islamic republic.
“Iran launched approximately 100 UAVs towards Israeli territory, which we are working to intercept,” military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin told journalists. He added that Israel’s strikes on Iran involved 200 fighter jets striking about 100 targets across Iran.
