Israel v Iran: Trump says ‘I warned Iranian hardliners…they're all DEAD now' as Tehran calls blitz ‘declaration of war'
DONALD Trump has urged Iran to make a deal "before it is too late" after Israel launched a blitz on its nuclear sites and assassinated its top generals.
It came as Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi described the attack as a "declaration of war" in a letter to the UN.
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In a lengthy post on Truth Social, Trump wrote: "I gave Iran chance after chance to make a deal."
He went on: "Certain Iranian hardliner's spoke bravely, but they didn't know what was about to happen.
"They are all DEAD now, and it will only get worse! There has already been great death and destruction, but there is still time to make this slaughter, with the next already planned attacks being even more brutal, come to an end.
"Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left, and save what was once known as the Iranian Empire. No more death, no more destruction, JUST DO IT, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE."
Iran remains under attack after Israeli commandos spearheaded an incredible blitz on its nuclear sites by building a secret drone base deep inside enemy territory.
Elite troops smuggled kamikaze drones and precision weapons into Iran in one of the most audacious military operations ever attempted.
Their mission - planned for years and backed by intelligence - paved the way for 200 Israeli warjets to blast 100 targets across the rogue Islamist nation.
An Israeli official said: 'The operation relied on groundbreaking thinking, bold planning and surgical operation of advanced technologies, special forces and agents operating in the heart of Iran while totally evading the eyes of local intelligence.'
Israeli commanders said the overnight raids were the start of up to two weeks of action intended to wipe out Iran's atom threat.
The Middle East now stands on the brink of all-out war after Israel unleashed a massive wave of missile strikes on Iran - with Tehran then responding with a wave of drones.
Israeli forces on Friday targeted Tehran's nuclear facilities and killed top military & scientific figures in a lightning offensive dubbed Operation Rising Lion.
Israel appears to have defied urges for restraint - including from US President Donald Trump - and said they were responding to the imminent danger that Tehran would obtain a nuclear weapon.
Iran have vowed vengeance, already begun to blame the US, and launched at least 100 drones towards Israel.
The strikes came just days before Iran was due to meet with the US for another round of nuclear talks to try and strike a deal.
Iran has since pulled out of scheduled nuclear negotiations with the United States.
Tehran cancelled talks that were set for Sunday and suspended all discussions 'until further notice', The Telegraph reported.
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Which Iranian military chiefs and scientists have been killed?
ISRAEL has dealt a major blow to Iran's command chain - wiping out several of its top brass.
Key nuclear scientists have also been eliminated in Israel's overnight strikes.
Those killed include:
Generals
Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, chief of staff of the armed forces and the second-highest commander after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
Gen. Hossein Salami, commander in chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps
Gen. Gholamali Rashid, deputy commander in chief of the armed forces
Ali Shamkhan, key adviser and confidant of Khamenei
Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the IRGC Aerospace Forces
Nuclear scientists
Fereydoun Abbasi, the former head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran
Dr Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, theoretical physicist and president of the Islamic Azad University in Tehran
In a ferocious show of force, around 200 Israeli fighter jets roared across Iranian skies early Friday.
The Israeli Defence Force (IDF) said they used 330 munitions on 100 targets, including uranium enrichment plants and key command centres.
Major strikes have taken place on Iran's military bases, the homes of top officials and nuclear sites such as the uranium enrichment base at Natanz .
And the heads of Iran's armed forces - Revolutionary Guards commander Hossein Salami and Iranian chief of state Mohammad Bagheri - have both been killed.
At least two nuclear scientists - Fereydoon Abbasi and Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi - have also been killed, says Iranian state TV.
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