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LAST UPDATE | 17 Jun
US PRESIDENT DONALD Trump is considering a potential US strike against Iran, according to reports.
The Wall Street Journal, NBC News and Sky News have claimed that Trump met with top advisers in the Situation Room at the White House this afternoon, where a range of options on Iran were considered – including potential US missile strikes.
Earlier today, Trump issued a barrage of posts criticising Iran, including one saying that the United States knows “exactly” where Iran’s Supreme Leader 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,” Trump wrote on platform Truth Social. “But we don’t want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers. Our patience is wearing thin.”
A number of minutes after the post, he said, “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!”
He also said “Nobody does it better than the good ol’ USA”, as he claimed that the US has taken “complete and total control of the skies over Iran”.
The posts follow Trump saying earlier he wants a “real end” to the conflict between Israel and Iran, not just a ceasefire, as the arch foes traded fire for a fifth day on Tuesday.
Israeli warplanes targeted dozens of missile launchers in western Iran and killed a senior commander, the military said, drawing retaliatory fire from the Islamic republic.
Israeli police reported that debris fell in the central Tel Aviv area and the fire brigade said it was tackling a blaze.
Israel also said it targeted multiple missile and drone sites in western Iran overnight and again later on Tuesday, with black-and-white footage showing some of them exploding.
Both sides continued to exchange fire overnight, leading to Trump’s early departure from the G7 leaders summit in Canada early to focus on the ongoing strikes.
This morning, the Israeli military said it targeted multiple missile and UAV sites in western Iran, including surface-to-surface missile infrastructure, surface-to-air launchers and drone storage facilities, drawing retaliatory missile fire from Iran.
It also said it killed Iran’s top military commander, Ali Shadmani, in an overnight strike, calling him the closest figure to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Neither Israel nor Iran are showing any signs of cutting short the strikes that kicked off Friday, when Israel launched an unprecedented series of aerial raids targeting Iranian nuclear and military facilities.
IDF spokesperson Effie Defrin this evening said Israel “faces threats on many fronts”, saying that they continue fighting Iran’s “proxy” Hamas in Gaza while “working to remove threats from Iran”.
He said that Israel will not rest until the remaining 53 Israeli hostages in Gaza are returned.
Trump has repeatedly declined to say if the US would participate in Israeli military action, although he says it was not involved in the initial strikes.
After calling on the two sides to make a deal, the US leader issued an extraordinary warning on his Truth Social platform.
“Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!” Trump wrote without offering further details, before cutting short his attendance at the G7 in Canada to head back to the White House. Later, the US confirmed that it had set up a task force to support its citizens in the Middle East, with a spokesperson reminding US citizens not to travel to Israel, Iran, or Iraq.
Trump said his early departure had “nothing to do” with working on a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, adding that the reason was “much bigger than that” without elaborating further.
At the G7 summit, leaders called for “de-escalation” while stressing Israel had the right to defend itself. The joint statement also affirmed “Iran can never have a nuclear weapon”.
It prompted Iran to accuse the group of siding with Israel.
“The G7 must give up its one-sided rhetoric and tackle the real source of the escalation – Israel’s aggression,” foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said. “Iran is defending itself against a cruel aggression. Does Iran really have any other choice?”
Speaking on the sidelines of the G7 summit, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz expressed strong support for Israel – a close ally of Germany’s – in its attacks on Iran.
“This is the dirty work Israel is doing for all of us. We are also victims of this regime. This mullah regime has brought death and destruction to the world,” Merz said in an interview with the ZDF broadcaster.
The Iranian Embassy in Dublin also condemned Israel’s strikes on Iran in a statement this morning.
“These acts of aggression by the Israeli regime are a continuation of the regime’s eight-decade long record of unlawful settlement policies and repeated violations of international norms – a regime that has long been the greatest violator of international laws and norms,” it said.
The Embassy called on the UN to take immediate action “in response to this clear violation of international peace and security”.
Tánaiste Simon Harris confirmed today that the Government is preparing for how to evacuate Irish citizens who want to leave Iran or Israel as the conflict escalates.
It has been reported today by the BBC, which cited the head of the global nuclear watchdog, that centrifuges at Iran’s underground uranium enrichment plant at Natanz are likely to have been “severely damaged if not destroyed altogether” following Israeli strikes on Friday, the first day of direct violent conflict.
Israel said it attacked the sites and killed nine Iranian nuclear scientists to stop Tehran developing nuclear weapons.
‘Complete give-up’
Speaking to reporters on the plane home, Trump said that he wanted a “complete give-up” by Iran in return for peace.
“I’m not looking for a ceasefire, we’re looking at better than a ceasefire,” he said.
Trump again warned Iran against targeting US troops and assets in the Middle East, saying “we’ll come down so hard, it’d be gloves off”.
He has repeatedly declined to say if the US would participate in Israeli military action, although he has said Washington was not involved in initial strikes.
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said the US was deploying “additional capabilities” to the Middle East.
The aircraft carrier USS Nimitz left Southeast Asia Monday, scrapping a planned Vietnam port call, amid reports it was heading to the region.
China accused Trump of “pouring oil” on the conflict.
“Making threats and mounting pressure will not help to promote the de-escalation of the situation, but will only intensify and widen the conflict,” said foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun.
After decades of enmity and a prolonged shadow war, Israel launched a surprise aerial campaign against Iran last week, with the stated aim of preventing Tehran from acquiring atomic weapons – an ambition it denies.
Iran has launched several waves of missiles in retaliation for Israel’s attacks, with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards saying Monday that the attacks would continue “without interruption until dawn”.
The sudden flare-up has sparked fears of a wider conflict, with Trump urging Iran back to the negotiating table after Israel’s attacks derailed ongoing nuclear talks.
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said a missile strike lightly damaged a building used by the American embassy in Tel Aviv, while the US State Department warned citizens not to travel to Israel due to security concerns.
At least 24 people have been killed in Israel so far and hundreds wounded, according to the prime minister’s office.
Israel’s strikes have killed at least 224 people, including top military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians, according to Iranian authorities.
Benjamin Netanyahu told a press conference on Monday evening that Israel was eliminating Iran’s security leadership “one after the other”.
“We are changing the face of the Middle East, and that can lead to radical changes inside Iran itself,” he said.
The US and Iran had engaged in several rounds of indirect talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme in recent weeks, but Iran said after the start of Israel’s campaign that it would not negotiate while under attack.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that “absent a total cessation of military aggression against us, our responses will continue”.
“It takes one phone call from Washington to muzzle someone like Netanyahu. That may pave the way for a return to diplomacy,” he wrote on X.
A senior US official told AFP Trump had intervened to prevent Israel from carrying out an assassination of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
But Netanyahu did not rule out the possibility when asked about the reports during an interview with ABC News.
“It’s not going to escalate the conflict, it’s going to end the conflict,” he said.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz today warned Khamenei that he could suffer a fate “similar to” Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, who was toppled during the US-led invasion of 2003 and later captured and executed.
Katz warned Khamenei risked “a fate similar to Saddam Hussein” during a meeting with Israeli military and security service commanders, according to a statement from his office.
“I warn the Iranian dictator against continuing to commit war crimes and launch missiles toward Israeli civilians,” Katz was quoted as saying.
“He should remember what happened to the dictator in the neighbouring country to Iran who took the same path against Israel.”
With reporting from Emma Hickey and © AFP 2025
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