WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Sunday said that Israel and Iran “should make a deal, and will make a deal”, adding that there were many unspecified “meetings and calls” happening to restore peace amid ongoing missile attacks that have escalated tensions in the Middle East.
Taking to his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump said, “Iran and Israel should make a deal, and will make a deal,” adding that there were “many calls and meetings now taking place” to restore peace in the region.
His comments came as fresh missile strikes between the two long-standing adversaries reportedly killed scores overnight.
Trump claimed that he had previously used American trade leverage to resolve disputes between other countries, including India and Pakistan.
“Just like I got India and Pakistan to make [a deal], in that case by using trade with the United States to bring reason, cohesion, and sanity into the talks with two excellent leaders who were able to quickly make a decision and stop,” he wrote.
He further referenced his administration’s role in defusing several other international disputes during his first term. “During my first term, Serbia and Kosovo were going at it hot and heavy… I stopped it,” Trump wrote, adding that President Joe Biden had since “hurt the longer term prospects with some very stupid decisions”.
Trump also mentioned the long-standing water dispute between Egypt and Ethiopia over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. He credited his intervention with keeping the peace, claiming: “There is peace, at least for now, because of my intervention, and it will stay that way!”
He expressed optimism about the Israel-Iran peace, asserting, “Likewise, we will have peace, soon, between Israel and Iran! I do a lot, and never get credit for anything, but that’s OK, the PEOPLE understand. MAKE THE MIDDLE EAST GREAT AGAIN!”
Israel, Iran continue exchanging missile strikes
Meanwhile, Israel and Iran continued strikes against each other on Sunday.
Israel targeted multiple sites across Iran, including a defence ministry facility in Isfahan and fuel depots near Tehran, while Iran responded with missile and drone attacks on various sites across Israel.
According to Israeli authorities, Iranian missiles killed at least 10 people overnight, pushing the death toll up to 13 since Iran began its retaliatory strikes on Friday.
In Tehran, a heavy cloud of smoke hung above the city after Israeli aircraft hit two fuel depots.
Iranian media later said Israel attacked a facility affiliated with the defence ministry in the central city of Isfahan, reporting “possible damage”.
The Israeli military said its air force had targeted “more than 80” positions in Iran’s capital overnight.
Iran claims ‘solid proof’ of US support for Israel
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Sunday claimed that Tehran had “solid proof” that US forces had supported Israel in its attacks.
Earlier, Trump said that Washington “had nothing to do” with ally Israel’s intense bombardment campaign that was launched early Friday, hitting military and nuclear sites as well as residential areas.
But Trump also threatened to launch “the full strength and might” of the US military if Iran attacks American interests, saying on his Truth Social platform that “we can easily get a deal done between Iran and Israel, and end this bloody conflict!!!”
Israeli police said six people were killed and at least 180 injured at the site of an overnight missile strike in Bat Yam, near Tel Aviv on Israel’s Mediterranean coast.
First responders wearing helmets and headlamps picked through the bombed-out building as dawn broke, with police saying at least seven people were missing.
“There was an explosion and I thought the whole house had collapsed,” said Bat Yam resident Shahar Ben Zion.
In northern Israel, rescuers and medics said a strike late Saturday destroyed a three-storey building in the town of Tamra, killing four women.
Israeli authorities have reported a total toll of 13 dead and 380 injured in the country since Friday.
Iran’s UN ambassador said 78 people were killed and 320 wounded in Friday’s first wave of Israeli strikes.
Iranian authorities have not provided an updated toll as of Sunday, but Tehran said Israel has killed several top military commanders and nuclear scientists.
Iran says Israel crosses red line
After decades of enmity, it is the first time Iran and Israel have traded fire with such intensity, triggering fears of a prolonged conflict that could engulf the entire Middle East.
On Sunday, explosions were heard northeast of Tehran, the Reuters news agency reported, citing the Iranian state-run Nour News. It added the cause of the explosions were not immediately clear.
The head of Tehran’s traffic police Ahmad Karami told the IRNA news agency “heavy traffic was reported at the capital’s exit points”.
Israel said its forces had struck the defence ministry headquarters in Tehran, where Iranian news agency Tasnim reported damage.
The Israeli military also said it had struck nuclear sites, including the secretive Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research (SPND), fuel tankers and other targets.
The Iranian oil ministry said Israel targeted two fuel depots in the Tehran area.
Iranian media later said that police had arrested two suspects over alleged links to Israel’s Mossad spy agency.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to hit “every target of the ayatollah regime”, while Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian warned of “a more severe and powerful response”.
On Sunday, the Israeli military warned Iranians to evacuate areas near weapons facilities nationwide.
“The Zionist regime crossed a new red line in international law” by “attacking nuclear facilities”, Araghchi told foreign diplomats, according to state TV.
“If the aggression stops, naturally our responses will also stop,” he added.
Iran warns of fierce retaliation
Araghchi also condemned on Sunday Israel’s attack a day earlier on a major gas facility operating at South Pars, the world’s largest known gas reserve located off of Iran’s southern Bushehr province.
The attacks persisted despite global calls for de-escalation, with Iran scrapping scheduled nuclear talks with the US, saying it was “meaningless” to negotiate while under fire from Israel.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said Sunday they had struck sites used by Israeli warplanes for refuelling, in retaliation for the earlier Israeli strikes.
The Guards in a statement vowed to respond “more fiercely and more broadly” if Israel keeps up its deadly campaign.
The Israeli military said it had intercepted seven drones launched at the country within an hour on Sunday.
