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Iran Israel war live updates: Israel and Iran continue to pound each other as the conflict between the two countries, one of the biggest so far, has entered day seven. Hinting at further escalation, Israel has warned people to evacuate area around Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor while several drones launched by Iran were intercepted by Israel.
Senior officials of the United States are preparing for the possibility of striking Iran in the coming days, Bloomberg reported citing people familiar with the matter. This comes after US President Donald Trump weighed on Wednesday whether to enter the conflict to aid Israel or not, with no certainty yet on the US’ participation.
“I may do it, I may not do it…I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do,” said Trump while talking to reporters at the White House. He also said, “I have ideas as to what to do…I like to make the final decision one second before it’s due because things change, especially with war.”
Some high-ranking European diplomats will hold nuclear talks with Iran on Friday, reported Associated Press citing an European official familiar with the matter, however, there were no plans yet of the United States joining these talks. An offer of mediation between Iran and Israel has also come from Russian President Vladimir Putin. He has suggested that Russia could help broker a settlement between the two countries which allows for Iran to pursue a peaceful atomic program but also take the edge off Israel’s security concerns. Putin has shared Russia’s proposal with Israel, Iran and the United States.
Iran reiterated its stance that it does not and would never seek nuclear weapons, the reason given by Israel to justify its offensive that struck several military and nuclear sites in Iran. Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said that his country is “committed to diplomacy”.
Iran-Israel conflict | Key updates
- The conflict between Iran and Israel started after the latter launched a series of surprise strikes against Iranian military and nuclear infrastructure under ‘Operation Rising Lion’ last Friday.
- Israel justified its actions by saying that Iran was very close to building nuclear weapons which puts Israel’s security in jeopardy.
- United States President Donald Trump has also maintained that he does not want Iran to have nuclear weapons, a stance echoed by the G7 leaders who were hosted in Canada.
- Whether the United States will enter the ongoing conflict between Iran and Israel remains a mystery with President Trump still weighing his options.
