U.S. President Donald Trump issued a dire warning to Iran, telling Tehran to “make a deal” before it’s “too late” after Israel bombarded key Iranian nuclear sites and killed top regime officials overnight.
“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,” Trump wrote in the early hours of Friday morning. “Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left.”
Israel launched a massive attack on Iran overnight, striking targets including nuclear facilities, regime officials, military leaders and key atomic scientists. Tehran retaliated with more than 100 drones, according to an Israeli military spokesperson.
The huge strikes have triggered fears that the Middle East risks descending into another catastrophic regional war.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday condemned Israel and warned that “the Zionist regime has prepared a bitter and painful fate for itself.”
Trump said he “gave Iran chance after chance to make a deal” to shutter its nuclear program but “no matter how hard they tried, no matter how close they got, they just couldn’t get it done.”
“I told them it would be much worse than anything they know, anticipated, or were told, that the United States makes the best and most lethal military equipment anywhere in the World, BY FAR, and that Israel has a lot of it, with much more to come,” he added.
Iran’s “hardliners” did not heed warnings and “they are all DEAD now, and it will only get worse!” he wrote.
The dramatic escalation drew shocked reactions from world leaders. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called the situation “deeply alarming” and urged all parties to exercise restraint, de-escalate and not retaliate.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said it was “crucial” for Israel’s allies to work to de-escalate tensions.
“I think that is now the first order of the day,” Rutte told journalists at a press conference in Stockholm.
