Trump for Iran-Israel deal, like one he 'got India, Pakistan to make'

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Sunday claimed that he could secure a deal between Iran and Israel just as he had done between other arch-rivals, as he repeated his claim that he stopped the war between India and Pakistan last month.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump also claimed that “many calls and meetings are now taking place” on the issue.

In his statement, Trump wrote, “Iran and Israel should make a deal, and will make a deal, just like I got India and Pakistan to make, in that case by using TRADE with the United States to bring reason, cohesion, and sanity into the talks with two excellent leaders who were able to quickly make a decision and STOP!”

He referenced multiple geopolitical disputes during his presidency, including tensions between Serbia and Kosovo and the Nile dam dispute between Egypt and Ethiopia. “Serbia and Kosovo were going at it hot and heavy... and this long time conflict was ready to break out into WAR. I stopped it... Another case is Egypt and Ethiopia, and their fight over a massive dam... There is peace, at least for now, because of my intervention, and it will stay that way!”

Trump also suggested his efforts often go unacknowledged. “Likewise, we will have PEACE, soon, between Israel and Iran! Many calls and meetings now taking place. I do a lot, and never get credit for anything, but that’s OK, the PEOPLE understand. MAKE THE MIDDLE EAST GREAT AGAIN!”

President Donald Trump told a news network it remains possible the United States will become involved in the Iran-Israel conflict and that he would be “open” to Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin being a mediator.

“It’s possible we could get involved” in the ongoing battle between the Middle East’s arch-foes, Trump said in an interview, according to ABC News, which reported that the Republican president stressed that the United States is “not at this moment” involved in the military action.

As for Putin being a potential mediator in the conflict, “he is ready. He called me about it. We had a long talk about it,” Trump told an ABC News reporter.

Meanwhile, Iranian missile fire on Israel killed at least 10 people overnight, authorities said Sunday, as the foes exchanged new waves of attacks in their most intense confrontation in history.

In Iran, a heavy cloud of smoke billowed over the capital after Israeli aircraft struck two fuel depots. For days, Iranians have formed long queues at gas stations fearing shortages.

Iran fired a fresh barrage of missiles at Israel, Iranian state television announced early Sunday, as Tehran and Israel exchanged fire for a third day.

Israeli media has reported that Iranian strikes targeted a power station in Hadera and the Netanyahu family’s residence in the coastal town of Caesarea, Middle East Eye reported.

Israel’s army says a barrage of missiles fired from Iran failed to reach the country, Al Jazeera reported. “In the last hour, several missiles were launched at the State of Israel from Iran, most of which were intercepted. No reports of any missiles landing on Israeli territory were received,” the military said in a statement.

According to CNN, Israeli citizens have been told they can leave their shelters by the Home Front Command, but must remain nearby, after Iran launched its first daytime missile barrage since the latest conflict erupted on Friday. Israel’s national emergency service Magen David Adom (MDA) said there have been no reports of injuries as of yet.

US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that Washington “had nothing to do” with ally Israel’s intense bombardment campaign that was launched early Friday, targeting key military and nuclear sites in Iran. But Trump threatened to launch “the full strength and might” if Iran attacks US interests!!!”

Israeli police said six people were killed and at least 180 injured at the site of an overnight missile strike in Bat Yam, near Tel Aviv on Israel’s Mediterranean coast.

First responders wearing helmets and headlamps combed through the bombed-out building as dawn broke, with police saying at least seven people were missing, feared buried under the rubble. “There was an explosion and I thought the whole house had collapsed,” said Bat Yam resident Shahar Ben Zion. “It was a miracle we survived.”

In the north of Israel, rescuers and medics said a strike late Saturday destroyed a three-storey building in the town of Tamra, killing four women and taking the overall death toll in the country since Friday to 13.

In Iran’s capital early Sunday, AFP journalists heard a series of blasts. Israel said its forces had struck the defence ministry headquarters in Tehran, where Iranian news agency Tasnim reported damage. The ministry did not comment.

The Israeli military also said it had struck nuclear sites including the secretive Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research (SPND), fuel tankers and other targets. The Iranian oil ministry said Israel struck two fuel depots in the Tehran area. An AFP journalist saw a depot at Shahran, northwest of the capital, on fire.

Iranian media on Sunday reported explosions in the northeastern city of Mashhad as Israel kept up its attacks on Iran for a third day.

“Two locations in Mashhad suffered explosions and fires,” Fars news agency reported, adding that “air defences were activated in the area”.

The local Tasnim news agency said the blasts were heard near the city’s Shahid Hasheminejad Airport.

“No damage has been reported to the airport buildings or runway,” it added.

Mashhad is home to the Imam Reza shrine, the holiest site in Iran for the Muslims.

Israel’s military said its air force struck Mashhad airport.

It added it was “the longest-range strike conducted since the beginning” of its attack on Iran which began Friday.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said Sunday they had struck sites used by Israeli warplanes for refuelling, in retaliation for the earlier Israeli strikes.

The Guards in a statement vowed to respond “more fiercely and more broadly” if Israel keeps up its deadly campaign.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Huthi rebels said they had launched several missiles at Israel in attacks that were “coordinated with the operations carried out by the Iranian military”.

The Israeli military said it had intercepted seven drones launched at the country within an hour on Sunday.

On Sunday, the Israeli military warned Iranians to evacuate areas near weapons facilities nationwide. “The Zionist regime crossed a new red line in international law” by “attacking nuclear facilities”, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told foreign diplomats, according to state TV. He also said Tehran had “solid proof” US forces supported the Israeli attacks.

“We are defending ourselves; our defence is entirely legitimate... If the aggression stops, naturally our responses will also stop.”

Highlighting the global unease, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned against a “devastating war” with regional consequences, in a call with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Ankara said. Meanwhile, Germany, France and Britain are ready to hold immediate talks with Iran over Tehran’s nuclear programme in a bid to de-escalate the situation in the Middle East, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said.

Wadephul, who is on a visit to the Middle East, said he was trying to contribute towards a de-escalation of the conflict between Israel and Iran, and noted Tehran had previously failed to take the opportunity to enter into constructive talks.

“I hope that’s still possible,” Wadephul told German public broadcaster ARD late on Saturday. “Germany, together with France and Britain are ready. We’re offering Iran immediate negotiations about the nuclear programme, I hope (the offer) is accepted.”

Two US officials told Reuters on Sunday Donald Trump has vetoed an Israeli plan to assassinate Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. “Have the Iranians killed an American yet? No. Until they do we’re not even talking about going after the political leadership,” one of the sources, a senior US administration official, told Reuters.

Separately, upon being asked about the reported plan, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “I’m not going to get into that.”

On Sunday night, footage in Haifa showed an apparent projectile crossing through the night sky as plumes of smoke rose from buildings. Reports have emerged from Tel Aviv and Jerusalem that explosions were heard over the sky on Sunday night.

Meanwhile, Iran’s armed forces have warned Israelis to leave the vicinity of “vital areas” in a video statement reviewed by Reuters on Sunday evening. Israeli airline El Al has also extended all flight suspensions through Thursday 19 June.

An Israeli airstrike on a residential building in downtown Tehran killed 5 people, Iranian state TV reported on Sunday. “A residential building was targeted in the centre of Tehran, killing five people,” the broadcaster said, adding that the death toll may rise due to the densely populated area in central Tehran where the strike hit. According to an Agence France-Presse journalist, powerful explosions occurred twice in the area and minutes apart. AFP added that crowds of people rushed to the site of the blast near the communications ministry.

At least 14 Iranian nuclear scientists were killed in Israeli attacks, including car bombs, Reuters reported citing two Gulf sources.

Iran´s health ministry said on Sunday that three days of Israeli strikes on the country had killed 224 people and injured more than 1,200. “After 65 hours of aggression by the Zionist regime, 1,277 people have been injured. 224 women, men and children have been martyred,” the ministry’s spokesman Hossein Kermanpour wrote on X, adding that 90 percent of those killed had been civilians.

While Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency said the intelligence chief of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Mohammad Kazemi, and his deputy were killed in Israel’s attacks on Tehran on Sunday.

Mediators Qatar and Oman were told by Iran that Tehran “will not negotiate while under attack”, an official briefed on the talks said Sunday, amid a massive exchange of strikes between Israel and the Islamic republic. “The Iranians informed Qatari and Omani mediators that they will only pursue serious negotiations once Iran has completed its response to the Israeli pre-emptive strikes, while also making it clear that it will not negotiate while under attack,” the source said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of talks.

Etihad Airways has cancelled flights between Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv until 22 June, it said on Sunday. “This remains a developing situation, and some disruption and delays may be expected in the coming days,” it said in a statement.