As Israel and Iran trade strikes on a fifth day of conflict, civilians in Tehran (Iran’s capital) and Tel Aviv (Israel’s prominent city) areas face waves of attacks. As a result of this fatal warfare, US President Donald Trump has decided to depart from the ongoing G7 Summit in Canada earlier than his original schedule. Trump aims to intervene and initiate talks on a broader level, of a possible ceasefire between the two conflicting Middle Eastern countries. The ‘Operation Rising Lion‘ attack by Israel on Iran seems to see no sign of being called off.
French President Emmanuel Macron opined during a press meet at the G7 Summit that his US counterpart Donald Trump has made an offer for a ceasefire between Israel and Iran. Looking at the present situation and rising tensions, it is imperative that all strikes from both sides against energy, administrative, and cultural infrastructures, especially against the innocent civilian population, come to a complete halt to avoid any further damage. As of Day 4, close to 224 people have been killed in Iran while 24 have lost their lives in Tel Aviv, since these brutal hostilities began.
What’s interesting here to note is that as the leader of the world’s most powerful economy, President Trump’s comments on the Israel-Iran conflict have maneuvered from full throated support for Israel’s strikes to strongly distancing himself from them, and then back again. His ambiguity has added to the sense of uncertainty as the fighting itself escalates.
While it is to be seen as to what route does the Republican cabinet undertake, given that as of last night Iran’s heavy missile attack has caused severe destruction of the U.S. Embassy building in Tel Aviv, a move which will certainly not be taken lightly by the hot-headed Trump.
He may either succumb to Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu’s pressure and launch more harsh attacks from his Israeli ally armed with American bombs. Though his preferred option (unlike Netanyahu) is via a nuclear deal between the US and Iran, but despite multiple rounds, these talks did not see light at the end of the tunnel. Netanyahu has applied constant pressure on Trump to go down the military not diplomatic path. The US has bunker buster bombs which the forces in Israel believe can destroy Iran’s underground uranium enrichment site at Fordow.
As the fighting escalates with each minute, so does the pressure on Trump from the camp of Republicans in Congress who have long called for a regime change in Iran. Though as of now he has steered away from any direct intervention and iterated that US is not involved in the attacks, as the leader with global dominance and power, his assistance to mediate and resolve this civil havoc will prove to be highly significant and potentially legacy defining in diverse ways. Currently, the US President Donald Trump has urged everyone to ‘immediately evacuate’ Tehran and instructed the National Security Council to prepare combat plans actively.
Helene Elliott is the senior reporter for News Raise. She covers Science news. She also has a keen interest in photojournalism. Helene holds a nomination for the prestigious Red Smith Award. She is married to author Dennis D’Agostino, a former publicist with the New York Mets.
