JERUSALEM, Israel – President Trump says he’s negotiating with Iran for a possible end to the war. Yet, the attacks on Iran’s military infrastructure continue. The president claims the Iranian leaders are desperate.
“They want to make a deal so badly,” he stated, “But they’re afraid to say it because they figure they’ll be killed by their own people. They’re also afraid they’ll be killed by us. There’s never been a head of a country that wanted that job less.”
The list of Iranian demands, according to The Wall Street Journal, includes the immediate closure of all American bases in the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Peninsula, official and binding guarantees to avoid further attacks, and the end of Israeli attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt asserted that, despite Iranian TV reports that Iran’s leaders are rejecting the president’s plan, talks are ongoing and productive.
“The President’s preference is always peace,” Leavitt said. There does not need to be any more death and destruction. But if Iran fails to accept the reality of the current moment, if they fail to understand that they have been defeated militarily and will continue to be, President Trump will ensure they are hit harder than they have ever been hit before.”
The number of military strikes is historic. CENTCOM Commander Adm. Brad Cooper indicated that the U.S. has struck more than 8,000 targets, including 130 Iranian vessels, the largest elimination of a navy over a three-week period since World War II.
Israel announced it has dropped more than 15,000 bombs, over four times the number in last June’s 12-day war.
However, Iran continues to fire ballistic missiles at Israel, with at least three attacks in and around Jerusalem, and more throughout the country, in the last 24 hours.
In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, United Arab Emirates Ambassador to the U.S. Yousel al-Otaiba said the past three and a half weeks of the war have confirmed that Iran’s revolution is a threat to global security and economic stability. He’s pushing for the U.S. to finish the job.
He wrote, “We can’t let Iran hold the U.S., the United Arab Emirates, and the global economy hostage. A simple cease-fire isn’t enough. We need a conclusive outcome that addresses Iran’s full range of threats: nuclear capabilities, missiles, drones, terror proxies, and blockades of international sea lanes.”
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On the other major Middle East front, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel is expanding the security zone in southern Lebanon.
He declared that the reason was “To remove the threat of anti-tank missiles from our communities and our territory. We are simply creating a larger buffer zone … we are determined to do everything to fundamentally change the situation in Lebanon.”
The Israel Defense Forces now control a number of villages in southern Lebanon, and the Israeli government approved a maximum call-up of up to 400,000 reservists, if needed, during Operation Roaring Lion.
Alex Traiman of Jewish News Syndicate told CBN News that Israel and the U.S. have complementary goals.
“So, Israel, really, I would say, (is) laying the groundwork for a regime change inside Iran, while the United States is targeting most of the nuclear facilities, both Air forces targeting the ballistic missile infrastructures that have been pummeling Israel, as well as other nations.”
