Iran Israel attack highlights: Trump approved Iran attack plans behind closed doors, report claims

Israel Iran war news updates: Smoke and fire rise at an impacted facility site following a missile attack by Iran on Israel, at Haifa, Israel

Israel Iran attack news highlights: The conflict between Iran and Israel entered its sixth day with full force as both the nations traded missile strikes on Wednesday.  Track live updates of Iran-Israel conflict here. As the conflict escalates, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei stated that Israel has “made a huge mistake” and will be “punished” for its attack on Iran. Meanwhile, Israel has launched fresh attacks against Tehran. 

US President Donald Trump on the other hand, stated that iran has “no air defence systems and are defenceless” as he hinted towards strikes against the country. 

During the early hours of Wednesday, sirens sounded across Israel twice within an hour as Iran launched strikes, said the Israel Defence Forces. Sirens sounded again in northern Israel due to a hostile aircraft infiltration. 

The strikes come even after United States President Donald Trump asked for ‘unconditional surrender’ by Iran.

Trump also said that they know the location of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei but will not kill him, at least for now, adding that the US does not want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers. “Our patience is wearing thin,” said Trump.

The conflict between Iran and Israel is now seeing more active participation from the United States as it is deploying more fighter jets and other warplanes to the Middle East, Reuters reported citing three US officials. Trump also met with his National Security Council on Tuesday afternoon after leaving the G7 summit a day early to discuss what is happening in the Middle East. However, the details of the meeting are not yet known.

Ever since Israel took Iran by surprise and launched ‘Operation Rising Lion’ against it by attacking its nuclear and military sites on Friday, Iran has lost several key commanders considered close to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who now finds himself isolated. The loss of senior Revolutionary Guards officials—those most trusted by the Supreme Leader—has created a significant strategic vacuum, reported Reuters citing five individuals familiar with the inner workings of Khamenei’s circle.

Iran Israel conflict | Key points

• 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.
• The US is getting actively involved in the Middle East conflict as Trump said that they have “complete and total control of the skies over Iran” on Tuesday. Though US forces have not launched any offensive against Iran yet, they are positioned in defensive positions in the region.
• So far, Iran has reported 224 deaths because of the ongoing conflict while Israel said 24 of its civilians have been killed.