Trump says he wants 'real end' to end nuclear problem with Iran
TEL AVIV: United States President Donald Trump said he wanted a "real end" to the nuclear problem with Iran and indicated he may send senior American officials to meet with the Islamic Republic as the Israel-Iran air war raged for a fifth straight day.
He made the comments during his midnight departure from Canada, where he attended the Group of Seven nations summit on Monday (Jun 16), according to comments posted by a CBS News reporter on social media platform X.
Trump predicted that Israel would not be easing its attacks on Iran. "You're going to find out over the next two days. You're going to find out. Nobody's slowed up so far," the CBS journalist quoted Trump as saying on Air Force One.
He said "I may", on the prospect of sending US Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff or Vice President JD Vance to meet with Iran.
Trump said on Tuesday that he had not reached out to Iran for peace talks in any way, shape, or form.
Iran "should have taken the deal that was on the table", he said in a post on Truth Social.
Trump is looking for a "complete give up" by Iran, according to a pool report by Politico.
Washington has said Trump was still aiming for a nuclear deal with Iran, even as the military confrontation unfolds.
World leaders meeting at the Group of Seven summit called for a de-escalation of the worst-ever conflict between the regional foes, saying Iran was a source of instability and must never have a nuclear weapon while affirming Israel's right to defend itself.
Trump, who left the summit early due to the Middle East situation, said his departure had "nothing to do with" working on a deal between Israel and Iran after French President Emmanuel Macron said the US had initiated a ceasefire proposal.
"Wrong! He has no idea why I am now on my way to Washington, but it certainly has nothing to do with a Cease Fire. Much bigger than that," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform late on Monday.
Israel launched its air war with a surprise attack that has killed nearly the entire top echelon of Iran's military commanders and its leading nuclear scientists.
It says it now has control of Iranian airspace and intends to escalate the campaign in the coming days.
Trump has consistently said the Israeli assault could end quickly if Iran agreed to US demands that it accept strict curbs on its nuclear programme.
"Simply stated, IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON. I said it over and over again! Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!" Trump said on Monday.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Tuesday that a "more powerful" new wave of missiles was recently launched towards Israel, the state news agency reported. A senior Iranian army commander said a new wave of drones would hit Israel.
Three people were killed and four injured in Iran's central city of Kashan in an Israeli attack, Iran's Nournews reported on Tuesday.
EXPLOSIONS, AIR DEFENCE FIRE
Iranian media also reported explosions and heavy air defence fire in Tehran early on Tuesday, with smoke rising in the city's east after an explosion of suspected Israeli projectiles. Air defences were also activated in Natanz, home to key nuclear installations 320km away, the Asriran news website reported.
Doctors and nurses have been recalled from leave to carry out their duties, Iranian media reported.
Khorramabad city MP Reza Sepahvand told the Iranian labour news agency that most incidents happening in Iran are due to "infiltrators" rather than direct action from Israel, adding that 21 people were killed in the western province of Lorestan.
World oil markets are on high alert for any developments in the conflict that could hit global supply.
A shipping incident near the Strait of Hormuz, off the coast of the United Arab Emirates early on Tuesday morning was not security-related but a result of ships colliding. The UAE coast guard said it had evacuated 24 people from oil tanker ADALYNN following a collision between two ships in the Gulf of Oman, near Hormuz. About a fifth of the world's total oil consumption passes through the waterway.
Naval sources have told Reuters that electronic interference with commercial ship navigation systems has surged in recent days around the Strait of Hormuz and the wider Gulf, which is having an impact on vessels sailing through the region.
Israel's military said on Tuesday that it killed Iran's wartime chief of staff. Israel also said it carried out extensive strikes on Iranian military targets, including weapons storage sites and missile launchers.
Iranian officials have reported 224 deaths, mostly civilians, while Israel said 24 civilians had been killed. Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said nearly 3,000 Israelis had been evacuated due to damage from Iranian strikes.
Sources told Reuters that Tehran had asked Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia to urge Trump to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to an immediate ceasefire. In return, Iran would show flexibility in nuclear negotiations, according to two Iranian and three regional sources.
CHINESE URGED TO LEAVE ISRAEL
"If President Trump is genuine about diplomacy and interested in stopping this war, next steps are consequential," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on X. "Israel must halt its aggression, and absent a total cessation of military aggression against us, our responses will continue."
Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons and has pointed to its right to nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, including enrichment, as a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Israel, which is not a party to the NPT, is the only country in the Middle East widely believed to have nuclear weapons. Israel does not deny or confirm that.
With security concerns growing and Israeli airspace closed because of the war, the Chinese embassy in Israel urged its citizens to leave the country via land border crossings as soon as possible.
The conflict escalated on Monday with Israel attacking Iran's uranium enrichment facilities.
Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told the BBC that the Natanz plant sustained extensive damage, likely destroying 15,000 centrifuges, while Iran's Fordow plant remained largely intact.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
12 minutes ago
- Straits Times
US pulls out of two more bases in Syria, worrying Kurdish forces
A Kurdish politician who lives on one base said there were no longer US troops there. PHOTO: REUTERS US pulls out of two more bases in Syria, worrying Kurdish forces AL SHADADI BASE, Syria - US forces have pulled out of two more bases in north-eastern Syria, visiting Reuters reporters found, accelerating a troop drawdown that the commander of US-backed Syrian Kurdish forces said was allowing a resurgence of ISIS. Reuters reporters who visited the two bases in the past week found them mostly deserted, both guarded by small contingents of the Syrian Democratic Forces - the Kurdish-led military group that Washington has backed in the fight against ISIS for a decade. Cameras used on bases occupied by the US-led military coalition had been taken down, and razor wire on the outer perimeters had begun to sag. A Kurdish politician who lives on one base said there were no longer US troops there. SDF guards at the second base said troops had left recently but declined to say when. The Pentagon declined to comment. It is the first confirmation on the ground by reporters that the US has withdrawn from Al-Wazir and Tel Baydar bases in Hasaka province. It brings to at least four the number of bases in Syria US troops have left since President Donald Trump took office. Mr Trump's administration said in June it will scale down its military presence in Syria to one base from eight in parts of north-eastern Syria that the SDF controls. The New York Times reported in April that troops might be reduced from 2,000 to 500 in the drawdown. The SDF did not respond to questions about the current number of troops and open US bases in north-eastern Syria. But SDF commander Mazloum Abdi, who spoke to Reuters at another US base, Al Shadadi, said the presence of a few hundred troops on one base would be "not enough" to contain the threat of ISIS. "The threat of Islamic State has significantly increased recently. But this is the US military's plan. We've known about it for a long time... and we're working with them to make sure there are no gaps and we can maintain pressure on Islamic State," he said. Mr Abdi spoke to Reuters on June 13, hours after Israel launched its air war on Iran. He declined to comment on how the new Israel-Iran war would affect Syria, saying simply that he hoped it would not spill over there and that he felt safe on a US base. Hours after the interview, three Iranian-made missiles targeted the Al Shadadi base and were shot down by US defence systems, two SDF security sources said. Isis active in Syrian cities ISIS, also known as Islamic State and Daesh, ruled vast swathes of Iraq and Syria from 2014 to 2017 during Syria's civil war, imposing a vision of Islamic rule under which it beheaded locals in city squares, sex-trafficked members of the Yazidi minority and executed foreign journalists and aid workers. The group, from its strongholds in Raqqa in Syria and Mosul in Iraq, also launched deadly attacks in European and Middle Eastern countries. A US-led military coalition of more than 80 countries waged a years-long campaign to defeat the group and end its territorial control, supporting Iraqi forces and the SDF. But ISIS has been reinvigorated since the ouster of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad in December at the hands of separate Islamist rebels. Mr Abdi said ISIS cells had become active in several Syrian cities, including Damascus, and that a group of foreign jihadists who once battled the Syrian regime had joined its ranks. He did not elaborate. He said ISIS had seized weapons and ammunition from Syrian regime depots in the chaos after Assad's fall. Several Kurdish officials told Reuters that ISIS had already begun moving more openly around US bases which had recently been shuttered, including near the cities of Deir Ezzor and Raqqa, once strongholds for the extremist group. In areas the SDF controls east of the Euphrates River, ISIS has waged a series of attacks and killed at least 10 SDF fighters and security forces, Mr Abdi said. Attacks included a roadside bomb targeting a convoy of oil tankers on a road near the US base where he gave the interview. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
Israel's air power reigns over Iran, but needs US for deeper impact
Smoke rising from the site of an Iranian missile attack in Herzliya, Israel, on June 17. PHOTO: REUTERS Israel's air power reigns over Iran, but needs US for deeper impact JERUSALEM - Israel's command of Iranian air space leaves few obstacles in the way of its expanding bombardment, though it will struggle to deal a knock-out blow to deeply buried nuclear sites without the US joining the attack, experts say. While Iran has responded with deadly missile strikes on Israeli cities, Israel has shown its military and intelligence pre-eminence as its warplanes have crisscrossed the Middle East, hitting Iranian nuclear installations, missile stockpiles, scientists, and generals - among other targets. On June 16, several Israeli officials declared the establishment of air superiority over Iran. The military likened its control of Iranian skies to its command of the air space over other arenas of conflict with Iran-aligned enemies, such as over Gaza and Lebanon - where Israel continues to bomb at will. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on June 16 Israel's control of Iranian air space was 'a game-changer'. National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said pilots could operate 'against countless more targets' over Tehran, thanks to the destruction of 'dozens and dozens' of air defence batteries. But even as Israeli officials laud the damage done so far, some publicly acknowledge Israel won't be able to completely knock out Iran's nuclear programme - unless the US joins the campaign with strategic bombers that can drop ordnance with the potential to penetrate sites buried deep underground. Dr Andreas Krieg, a senior lecturer at the School of Security Studies at King's College London, said Israel had achieved 'quite a lot of operational and tactical successes... But translating that into a strategic success will require more than what air power can deliver'. Dr Krieg said even the heaviest US bunker-busting bombs might struggle to penetrate Iran's deepest sites - in the event President Donald Trump decides to join the attack - suggesting special, commando-style forces might be needed on the ground. Nevertheless, 'Israel can act with impunity now, and they can do that in the way they did in it in Lebanon'. Israel launched its campaign on June 13, saying Tehran was on the verge of building a nuclear bomb - something Iran has always denied seeking from its uranium enrichment programme. While the Iranian military says it has downed Israeli warplanes, Israel denies this and says no crews or planes have been harmed during their missions to Iran, a return journey of some 3,000km or more. A senior Western defence source said Israeli warplanes have been refuelling over Syria - a bastion of Iranian influence until Dr Bashar al-Assad was toppled in December. Israel is now operating over Syria with 'near-total freedom', the source said. Echoes of Lebanon Israel's assault bears echoes of 2024's devastating offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon, during which Israel wiped out the Tehran-aligned group's top command - including its leader Hassan Nasrallah - within the first days. Two US officials told Reuters on June 15 that President Donald Trump had vetoed an Israeli plan in recent days to kill Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Mr Netanyahu on June 16 did not rule out targeting Ayatollah Khamenei, saying doing so would end the conflict. Further echoing its 2024 campaign in Lebanon, the Israeli military on June 16 issued an evacuation warning for a specific area of Tehran, saying in a post on X that it planned to target the 'Iranian regime's military infrastructure' in the capital. A regional intelligence source said Israel had built a 'truly surprising' network of agents in Tehran, likening the targeted killings of top officials to the blows directed at Hezbollah's leadership. The source said Israel's ability to 'penetrate Tehran from the inside' had been astonishing. Professor Justin Bronk, a senior research fellow at the RUSI think-tank in London, said Iran has 'few technical answers' to the combination of Israeli F-35 aircraft capable of waging electronic warfare against its anti-aircraft systems, supported by F-16s and F-15s carrying precision-guided ballistic missiles. Though Israel was long assessed to have the upper hand, the speed, scale and effectiveness of its strikes - particularly against top Iranian generals - caught many off guard, said Associate Professor Barin Kayaoglu, a Turkish defence analyst. Iran's military appeared to have been 'sleeping at the wheel', he said. However, he cited challenges for Israel, saying its air force could find it difficult to maintain the current tempo of its operations because of the need to replenish ammunition stocks and maintain warplanes. Weapons shipped In April, Israeli media reported an unusually large shipment of bombs arriving from the US. An unsourced report by public broadcaster Kan on April 17 said the delivery included hundreds of bombs, among them bunker busters. Iranian air defences were damaged by Israeli strikes during exchanges of fire in 2024, Israeli officials said then. As last week's attack began, Israel said Mossad commandos on the ground in Iran destroyed more of Iran's anti-aircraft systems. Despite Israeli air supremacy, Israeli officials have acknowledged that Iran's nuclear programme cannot be disabled entirely by Israel's military, emphasising goals that fall short of its total destruction. A former senior Israeli security official told Reuters that while US military support was needed to do damage to Iran's most deeply buried facility, the Fordow enrichment plant, Israel was not counting on Washington joining the attack. Israel has said it has not targeted Fordow - built beneath a mountain south of Tehran - to date, rather just the installations at Natanz and Isfahan. Either way, the former official said Israel had already done enough meaningful damage to Iran's nuclear programme, declining to be named so he could speak freely about sensitive matters. If after the conflict ends Iran retained a residual uranium enrichment capability but not the people and facilities to do anything of concern with it, then this would be a major achievement, added the official. Mr Trump has repeatedly said Iran could end the war by agreeing to tough restrictions on its enrichment programme. Ms Emily Harding from the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies said conventional wisdom held that Israel could not completely eliminate the deepest buried parts of Iran's nuclear programme. 'But Israel has strongly hinted that it has more capability than that conventional wisdom would suggest. For example, the ability to operate freely over the target allows for multiple sorties that could do a lot of damage,' she said. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
Germany's Merz says diplomacy offer to now-weakened Iran still stands
KANANASKIS, Canada - German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Tuesday that the leadership in Tehran has been weakened by Israel's attacks in the past few days and will likely not return to its former strength. "This regime is very weakened and will probably not return to its former strength, making the future of the country uncertain. We will have to wait and see," Merz said in an interview with broadcaster Welt at the G7 summit in Canada. He added that the Europeans' offer of diplomatic assistance, should talks resume, still stood as they did before the attacks. "If a new situation were to arise, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom would again be prepared to provide diplomatic assistance, as they were until last Thursday," he said. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
