The hardliners in Iran who rejected the chance to reach a nuclear deal with the United States are "all dead now," US President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social on Friday amid Israel's strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
"I gave Iran chance after chance to make a deal. I told them, in the strongest terms, to 'just do it,' but no matter how hard they tried, how close they got, they just could not get it done," the US president wrote.
"Certain Iranian hardliners spoke bravely, but they did not know what was about to happen. They are all dead now, and it will only get worse," he warned.
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Trump further called on Iran to reach a deal, as "there is still time to make this slaughter and the next come to an end... Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left."
Trump: US will defend Israel if 'they are attacked'
Earlier on Friday, Trump stressed that the US will "defend Israel if they are attacked," shortly after Jerusalem launched airstrikes on Iran as part of Operation Rising Lion.The president said that Iran cannot have a nuclear bomb and that the United States was hoping to get back to the negotiating table, in an interview with Fox News following the start of Israeli airstrikes against Israel's sworn enemy.
"Iran cannot have a nuclear bomb and we are hoping to get back to the negotiating table. We will see. There are several people in leadership that will not be coming back," Fox News reporter Jennifer Griffin quoted Trump as saying in a post on X/Twitter.
"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," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.
"President Trump and the administration have taken all necessary steps to protect our forces and remain in close contact with our regional partners. Let me be clear: Iran should not target US interests or personnel," he said.
"Israel is doing a favor to America right now by taking out Iran's nuclear capacity," US Senator Ted Cruz told Fox News.
"We don't know how this is going to end, but a nuclear Iran would be a profound threat to Israel and a profound threat to America," Cruz said.
Dozens of Israeli aircraft participated in an initial wave of strikes on dozens of military targets and Iranian nuclear sites early on Friday morning.
US security council will meet
US President Donald Trump will attend a National Security Council meeting on Friday morning, the White House said late on Thursday.The IDF confirmed that the reason for the attack is to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
"Weapons of mass destruction in the hands of the Iranian regime are an existential threat to the State of Israel and to the wider world," the military said.
Reuters contributed to this report.
