Israel poised to return to Iran war in heaviest US strikes yet
Donald Trump orders bombardment of energy infrastructure in attempt to force Tehran back to negotiations
The United States and Israel are preparing to hit Iran with the heaviest strikes of the entire war.
Donald Trump has ordered fresh attacks targeting energy infrastructure, which could begin this weekend and last a few days to force Iran back to the negotiating table.
The attacks will be co-ordinated with Israel, it has been reported. If they go ahead, it will be Israel’s first military operations against Iran since the US-brokered ceasefire in April.
“We will be hitting them very hard,” Mr Trump said at a Camp David cabinet meeting on Friday. “And you know at some point, they’re going to say, ‘We just can’t take it any more.’”
Officials told the Wall St Journal that Mr Trump had approved the new attack plan at Camp David. However, they said the president could still change his mind and halt the strikes if there were a diplomatic breakthrough in talks with Iran.
One potential target is Pickaxe Mountain, where Israeli intelligence claims Iran has hidden centrifuges to make uranium, which could be used to make nuclear weapons.
Credit: Omar Kamal and Sylvie Husson/AFP via Getty Images
CBS News reported that multiple US sources said they were co-ordinating with Israel, but an Israeli official said it was unaware of a decision to restart operations.
Several US embassies in the Middle East warned Americans on Saturday of an “unforeseen escalation”.
Embassies in Baghdad, Jerusalem and Amman encouraged Americans to “consider departing” and stay clear of US bases.
Despite the threat of new attacks, the top US general in Europe privately warned the Pentagon that he lacks equipment to protect Israel from incoming missiles, the Washington Post reported.
General Aexus Grynkewich, the head of US European Command, told officials that without another Navy destroyer, he will be forced to choose defence of the United States “homeland” over that of Israel.
Mr Trump insists Iran must give up its nuclear programme, as well as its control of the Strait of Hormuz.
Earlier this week, he had said “very friendly negotiations” were under way, leading to a pause in the fighting. That pause ended after an Iranian surprise attack in Jordan and a US retaliatory strike.
This week, Iran and the US resumed overnight exchanges of fire after a days-long lull in fighting although there were no reported strikes overnight on Friday.
Donald Trump addresses the meeting of his cabinet on Friday Credit: Aaron Schwartz/AFP via Getty Images
On Friday, Mr Trump accused the Iranians of being “very dishonourable” and of having broken their word in previous talks.
Tehran has shown no sign of agreeing to his demands. Some officials believe they plan to string out the negotiations in the hope that Mr Trump backs down in the face of rising domestic opposition to the war.
Iran’s military accused the US of “escalating tensions” in the Middle East on Saturday and warned countries in the region against co-operating with Washington during the ongoing conflict.
“The United States is rapidly moving down the path of escalating tensions in the region,” said Ali Abdollahi, head of Iran’s military central command.
Ali Abdollahi has warned Iran will take revenge on any country ‘serving as a defensive shield for the US’ Credit: Morteza Nikoubazi/NurPhoto via Getty Images
“Any country serving as a defensive shield for criminal and aggressive America will be engulfed by the flames of war,” he said on state television.
Kuwait’s army said on Saturday that it had detected and destroyed hostile drones in the country’s airspace since dawn, and an alleged Iranian attack had targeted several vital facilities.
A government facility in northern Kuwait and civilian property belonging to a company on Bubiyan Island were hit, it said, adding that falling shrapnel caused material damage but no casualties.
A tanker was also struck by an “unknown projectile” off the coast of Oman, a British maritime agency said on Saturday, as tensions ran high in the Strait of Hormuz.
The vessel reported it was “struck by an unknown projectile which has caused damage to the engine room”, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency said, adding no injuries were reported in the incident around 12 miles off the coast.