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LAST UPDATE | 12 hrs ago
US PRESIDENT DONALD Trump has delayed a decision on whether to join Israeli attacks on Iran as Keir Starmer has urged restraint in the Middle East.
The US president said he was still hopeful of reaching a negotiated solution with Tehran and would decide on military action within “two week”s, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters today.
Quoting a message from the president, Leavitt said: “Based on the fact that there is a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision on whether or not to go within the next two weeks.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt addressing reporters at the White House. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
Yesterday, Trump said he “may” join Israeli strikes against Iran and its nuclear programme, but added: “I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do.”
UK Prime Minister Starmer had urged him to step back from military action, saying there was a “real risk of escalation”.
Starmer said there had been “several rounds of discussions with the US” and “that, to me, is the way to resolve this issue”.
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy took the UK’s plea for de-escalation to Washington, where he was expected to meet Trump’s top diplomat Marco Rubio this evening.
Earlier today, Russia warned the US against militarily intervening in the ongoing Israel-Iran conflict as the Kremlin says that doing so would be an “extremely dangerous step”.
Moscow is one of Iran’s most important allies, with the two deepening military cooperation and inking a strategic partnership agreement just months ago.
But the Kremlin has not provided military support to Iran in the face of Israeli air strikes, and President Vladimir Putin is pitching himself as a possible mediator, even as he condemns Israel.
“We would like to particularly warn Washington against military intervention in the situation,” Russian foreign ministry’s spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters.
The Kremlin says Putin 'strongly condemns Israel's actions' against Iran. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
Zakharova added that any US military action “would be an extremely dangerous step with truly unpredictable negative consequences”.
Moscow issued its warning after Putin spoke with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, with the pair blasting Israel.
Putin and Xi “strongly condemn Israel’s actions,” the Kremlin said after the call.
Putin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters that Moscow and Beijing believed the end to the hostilities “should be achieved exclusively by political and diplomatic means”.
Russia has for years been a key actor in the Middle East, managing to maintain warm relations with all major players in the region.
But the fall of key ally Bashar al-Assad in Syria last year, and Israel’s war in Gaza – which Putin has repeatedly raised concerns about – have threatened to dent that position.
Despite their close military ties, Putin said Iran had not requested military help in the week since Israel launched its attacks.
Last week, Putin held phone calls with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, offering himself as a peacemaker.
Israel’s defence minister said that Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei “can no longer be allowed to exist” after an Israeli hospital was hit during an Iranian missile attack.
Early-morning strikes from Iran hit a hospital in the southern Israeli city of Be’er Sheva, as Tehran launched another wave of missile attacks. Local media in Iran said Israeli warplanes bombed nuclear facilities overnight.
The Israeli foreign ministry confirmed the attack on social media and posted footage appearing to show moments after an airstrike hit the Soroka Medical Centre facility.
Smokes raises from a building of the Soroka hospital complex after it was hit by a missile fired from Iran in Be'er Sheva, Israel. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
A spokesperson for the hospital reported “damage to the hospital and extensive damage in various areas. We are currently assessing the damage, including injuries. We ask the public not to come to the hospital at this time”.
As well as treating members of the public, the Soroka Hospital is known to treat Israeli soldiers injured while fighting in Gaza.
“Khamenei openly declares that he wants Israel destroyed – he personally gives the order to fire on hospitals. He considers the destruction of the state of Israel to be a goal,” Israel Katz told journalists in Holon near Tel Aviv.
“Such a man can no longer be allowed to exist.”
The World Health Organisation (WHO) reacted to the targeting of the hospital, with its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus denouncing the targeting of health facilities in the conflict as “appalling”.
Katz said that he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the military “to intensify strikes against strategic targets in Iran and against the power infrastructure in Tehran, in order to eliminate the threats to the state of Israel and to shake the Ayatollahs’ regime”.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the missile barrages between the two countries will not stop until Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is killed.
Earlier this week, he said that assassinating Khamenei would “end the conflict” between the two nations.
Iran’s early morning strikes also damaged buildings in the central towns of Ramat Gan and Holon, close to coastal hub Tel Aviv.
Israel’s Magen David Adom (MDA) rescue service said that at least 47 people were injured in Iran’s latest missile strikes, with 18 more injured “while running to shelter”.
Three people are in serious condition, and two are in moderate condition, an MDA spokesperson said in a statement.
“An additional 42 people sustained minor injuries from shrapnel and blast trauma, and 18 civilians were injured while running to shelter,” the spokesperson added.
It comes amid reports that US President Donald Trump has approved war plans that include plans of attack on Iran, but has not given final approval for action to be taken.
President Trump was presented with plans during a meeting yesterday, ABC News reports. Alamy
Alamy
According to multiple local news outlets, the US President is withholding final approval on the airstrike plans until Iran confirms if it will discuss ending their nuclear programme.
Trump was presented with plans during a meeting yesterday, ABC News reports, and is more comfortable with the idea of US involvement in Iran – despite previously seeking to avoid military action.
Asked if he would join Israeli strikes on Iran yesterday, Trump told reporters: “I may do it, I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do.”
He said that Tehran had reached out to seek negotiations. Iran has warned that American involvement will escalate the conflict into a total regional war.
The Trump Administration has sought to get Tehran to commit to disabling its nuclear weapons programme since returning to the White House in January. The US President gave conflicting reports on the success of negotiations.
Talks were disrupted by an unprovoked Israeli strike on Iran last week, which it said was pre-emptive and sought to disable Tehran’s nuclear capabilities. Missile strikes between the two countries have continued since then.
Iran seems set on continuing its retaliatory attack on Israel, despite the death toll in its own nation climbing. Tehran said on Sunday that Israeli strikes had killed at least 224 people, including military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians.
It has not issued an updated toll since then. At least 24 people have been killed in Israel and hundreds wounded, according to the Israeli Prime Minister’s office.
- Includes reporting by Jane Moore, Eoghan Dalton and AFP
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