Donald Trump was last night poised to join Israel’s attacks on Iran as he demanded Tehran’s ‘unconditional surrender’.
The American President also claimed that his country has the capability to eliminate Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, but reassured that the prominent target was currently safe.
America is assembling an armada of warships and fleets of fighter jets in the region ahead of possible military action.
Furthermore, discussions about potential US military strikes on various locations within Iran, including their nuclear facilities, were held during a recent meeting of the National Security Council in the White House Situation Room.
Since Israel initiated its airstrikes last week in an effort to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear arsenal, the death toll in Iran has risen to at least 224 individuals.
Tehran appeared defenceless last night with Israeli jets able to cruise through its airspace without fear of being shot down.Â
Israel also broadened the nature of its strikes to include cyberwarfare, with ‘massive’ attacks on Iran’s internet, communication networks and banks.
In a series of social media posts, Mr Trump said ‘we’ have aerial supremacy and ‘we’ know where the Supreme Leader is, remarks that suggested Israel and the US were acting in unison.
Donald Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One after departing early from the the G7 summit in Canada to return to Washington on June 17
US mobilises aircraft as the situation in the Middle East escalatesÂ
Tehran appeared defenceless last night with Israeli jets able to cruise through its airspace without fear of being shot down. Pictured:Â Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
Last night, international leaders confirmed the US was close to a decision on active involvement. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said a move could be imminent.
Mr Trump abruptly left the G7 summit in Canada on Monday night. He told reporters on board Air Force One he was looking for ‘a complete give-up’ by Iran, adding he was ‘not much in a mood to negotiate’ and was working on something ‘bigger than a ceasefire’.
Meanwhile, Yechiel Leiter, the Israeli ambassador to the US, said ‘this is the war to end wars’.
‘This is the war to engender peace in the Middle East,’ he added. Harking back to the audacious bombs-in-pagers plot against Hezbollah last year, Mr Leiter said: ‘We’ve pulled off a number of surprises.Â
‘When the dust settles, you’re going to see some surprises on Thursday night and Friday, that will make the beeper operation almost seem simple.’
Further explosions were heard across Tehran last night as the world held its breath over possible US participation.
Highways out of the Iranian capital were jammed, but quite where millions of residents were supposed to go to following President Trump’s plea for them to evacuate remained unclear.
The US already has a Carrier Strike Group in the eastern Mediterranean, including an aircraft carrier, the USS Carl Vinson, with nine squadrons of fighter jets, as well as frigates and destroyers.Â
US aircraft have been seen deploying over the UK as tensions rise in the Middle East
In a series of social media posts, Mr Trump said ‘we’ have aerial supremacy and ‘we’ know where the Supreme Leader is, remarks that suggested Israel and the US were acting in unison
A fire blazes in the oil depots of Shahran, northwest of Tehran, on June 15Â
A second Carrier Strike Group, including the carrier USS Nimitz, is sailing to the region from the Pacific. US bases across the Middle East were on high alert last night.
Though any involvement of US ground troops was considered unlikely last night, there are 46,000 personnel stationed in the vicinity of Iran who could assist with evacuations of US citizens.
Mr Trump had previously ruled out any US involvement unless Iran deliberately targeted American assets or individuals. But the bar appears to have been lowered.
He posted on social media: ‘We now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran.
‘Iran had good sky trackers and other defensive equipment, and plenty of it, but it doesn’t compare to American-made, conceived and manufactured stuff.’
He added: ‘We know exactly where the so-called Supreme Leader [Ayatollah Khamenei] is hiding. He is an easy target, but is safe there. We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now. But we don’t want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers. Our patience is wearing thin. Thank you for your attention to this matter.’
In another post, in capital letters, he demanded: ‘UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER’.
Last night, President Trump and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu were understood to be speaking by telephone about the state of the conflict.
United States Air Force B-52 bombers are within range of Iran
Israel has decimated Iran’s defences in five days, opening up further strikes on the country’s nuclear enrichment facilities and ballistic missile sites at will.
But Israel’s formidable arsenal does not extend to the American GBU-57 bunker-buster bombs capable of striking deep underground and so has been unable to penetrate the Fordow nuclear enrichment site, buried deep in a mountain south of Tehran.
The beating of war drums last night came after Sir Keir Starmer had tried to play down indications that the US was poised to launch military action.
When the Prime Minister was asked whether the conflict could spiral out of control should the US get involved, he told reporters in Canada: ‘I don’t think anything that the President said either here or elsewhere suggests that. The wording of the G7 statement is very clear about de-escalation and de-escalation across the region.
‘That statement speaks for itself in terms of the shared position of everybody who was here at the G7 [including President Trump] and that was a statement that was agreed.’Â
Last night, however, senior US diplomatic and political figures appeared to be urging the President to seize an opportunity to eliminate Iran’s threat to Israel.
President Trump posted on social media a text he received from the US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, who is also a pastor.Â
Mr Huckabee told Mr Trump that God had saved him from assassination during the presidential campaign so he could become ‘the most consequential president in a century – maybe ever’.
Fire and smoke rise into the sky after an Israeli attack on an oil depot in Tehran, Iran, at dawn on Sunday on June 15
Trump spoke to reporters after he flew home early from the G7 summit
Mr Huckabee likened the stakes in the Middle East to the Second World War and the decision faced by the US following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour.
But others in the Make America Great Movement were positioning against involvement in another ‘forever war’.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson have both called out ‘warmongers’, with Ms Taylor Greene tweeting: ‘Foreign wars/intervention/regime change put America last, kill innocent people, are making us broke, and will ultimately lead to our destruction.’
Even without a US intervention, Israel will continue with its ambitions in the conflict. Foreign affairs minister Gideon Sa’ar said Israel’s goals were to severely damage the nuclear programme, the ballistic missile programme and to ‘severely damage Iran’s plans to eliminate the state of Israel’.
Reports emerged last night suggesting the timing of Israel’s attacks may not have been based on Iran posing an imminent threat. US intelligence assessments said Iran was not actively pursuing a nuclear weapon and it was ‘up to three years away’ from being able to produce and deliver a functioning warhead.
