Israel launched what it described as a “preemptive strike” on Iran on Thursday, just hours after President Donald Trump called for a “diplomatic resolution” to long-simmering nuclear tensions.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Operation Rising Lion targeted Natanz, home to one of Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facilities, as well as the center of the Iranian ballistic missile program and leading Iranian nuclear scientists.
“This operation will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat,” Netanyahu said in an address claiming that Iran’s nuclear program posed a “clear and present danger to Israel’s very survival.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Explosions were heard in and around Tehran on Thursday night, according to Iranian state media outlet IRNA. Air raid sirens also went off in Tel Aviv, reported ABC News.
The attack killed Major General Hossein Salami, chief of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards; nuclear scientists Mohammad-Mehdi Tehranchi and Fereydoun Abbasi; and at least a dozen civilians, IRNA reported.
“I want to thank President Trump for his leadership in confronting Iran’s nuclear weapons program,” Netanyahu said. “He has made clear time and again that Iran cannot have a nuclear enrichment program.”
But State Secretary Marco Rubio swiftly released an unusually strong statement distancing the U.S. from the attack, which Trump had explicitly warned against. The statement notably lacked any expression of support for the Israeli operation.
“Tonight, Israel took unilateral action against Iran. We are not involved in strikes against Iran and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region,” Rubio said. “Let me be clear: Iran should not target U.S. interests or personnel.”
Just two hours before explosions were first reported in Iran, Trump made a last-minute call for sobriety on Truth Social.
“We remain committed to a Diplomatic Resolution to the Iran Nuclear Issue!” he wrote. “My entire Administration has been directed to negotiate with Iran. They could be a Great Country, but they first must completely give up hopes of obtaining a Nuclear Weapon.”
Earlier on Thursday, Trump told reporters at the White House that he would “love to avoid a conflict” in the region.
Asked whether an Israeli strike on Iran was imminent, Trump said “it looks like it’s something that could very well happen.”
“Look, it’s very simple, not complicated: Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon,” he said. “Other than that, I want them to be successful. I want them to be tremendous. We’ll help them be successful. We’ll trade with them. We’ll do whatever is necessary.”
Trump also touted that the U.S. was “fairly close” to a “pretty good agreement” with Iran, though he did not provide details. The next round of talks is scheduled for Sunday in Oman.
“I want to have an agreement with Iran,” he said. “As long as I think there is an agreement, I don’t want them going in, because I think that would blow it. Might help it, actually, but it also could blow it.”
The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump spoke with Netanyahu by phone on Monday and explicitly told him not to attack. Two U.S. officials claimed that the Israeli PM broached the topic of striking with Trump, who “responded that he would like to see diplomacy run its course before turning to military options.”
Trump also confirmed on Wednesday that non-essential U.S. personnel were being moved out of parts of the Middle East as tensions continued to escalate between Israel and Iran.
The State Department urged U.S. citizens in Israel and the broader region to take caution: “Due to high tensions in the Middle East, the security environment remains complex and can change quickly.”
Senior U.S. officials told CNN that they became increasingly concerned about an Israeli strike on Iran in recent days after Tehran said it would scale up its nuclear activities in response to a United Nations watchdog ruling that it failed to comply with its nuclear obligations.
This marks the latest foreign policy flub for Trump, who campaigned last year on a promise of America First and vowed to swiftly end the wars in Gaza and Ukraine. Since then, both wars have seen major escalations, and Trump has made fresh promises to claim the Panama Canal, Greenland, and even Canada.
“I’m not going to start a war, I’m going to stop wars,” he declared in his victory speech in November.
