U.S. military leaders and elected officials are grappling with a worsening diplomatic and security crisis in the Middle East. Tensions continue to rise as violence between Israel and Iran shows no signs of easing, following the Israeli Defense Force’s Thursday night strike on Iranian nuclear sites and Iran’s ongoing retaliatory bombing campaign.
In response to the Iranian strikes, Israel launched an expanded air assault on Iran Sunday, the IDF said, targeting energy infrastructure sites and the Defense Ministry headquarters. At least 70 were killed, including four top security chiefs, according to Israeli officials and local media.
Tehran, meanwhile, continued firing missiles at Israel throughout the day, with significant impacts roiling major population centers including Haifa and Tel Aviv. At least seven people were killed and nearly 200 injured in the attacks, according to Magen David Adom, Israel’s national emergency service.
President Donald Trump said the U.S. was not involved in the strikes against Iran Saturday evening, and warned of actions against the U.S.
“The U.S. had nothing to do with the attack on Iran, tonight. If we are attacked in any way, shape or form by Iran, the full strength and might of the U.S. Armed Forces will come down on you at levels never seen before. However, we can easily get a deal done between Iran and Israel, and end this bloody conflict!!!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
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According to two American officials, the U.S. is providing support to Israel amid the barrage, helping shoot down missiles headed towards the nation. A separate U.S. official confirmed to Scripps News that Iran had asked the U.S. to join its war against Iran in the hopes of eliminating its nuclear program, though the officials said the Trump administration was “not considering that” at this time.
Meanwhile, a sixth round of nuclear nonproliferation talks between the U.S. and Iran, previously scheduled for Sunday in Muscat, will no longer take place in the wake of the strikes. Oman’s foreign minister Badr Al Busaidi announced the change of plans Saturday, though he noted that “diplomacy and dialogue remain the only pathway to lasting peace.”
The Trump administration indicated it still sought to negotiate a deal.
"Whatever happens today cannot be prevented. But we have the ability to negotiate a successful peaceful resolution to this conflict if Iran is willing,” a senior White House official told Scripps News. “The fastest way for Iran to accomplish peace is to give up its nuclear weapons program.”
President Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin Saturday, with the focus primarily on the situation in Iran, the White House confirmed. Trump earlier in the month said Putin had suggested participating in the U.S.-Iran discussions.
“He feels, as do I, this war in Israel-Iran should end, to which I explained, his war should also end,” Trump wrote on Truth Social after Saturday’s call.
Putin, who has condemned Israeli strikes, shared a “readiness to mediate,” according to Russian state media.
“It is significant that the Russian and U.S. presidents, despite the complicated situation, do not rule out a return to the negotiating track on the Iranian nuclear program,” Russian presidential foreign affairs advisor Yuri Ushakov said following the call.
“[If] these negotiations are about Iran's nuclear program, if it no longer exists, what are we negotiating about?” questioned Simone Ledeen, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense under the first administration and defense consultant for Maven Defense Solutions.
“It's still an active, kinetic environment. So a lot of these questions are sort of need to be answered when the dust settles a bit, not right now,” Ledeen added.
Ahead of Israel’s initial strikes, Trump publicly signaled he didn’t want Israel to attack Iran as he believed they were “fairly close” to an agreement.
”As long as I think there is an agreement, I don’t want them going in because I think that would blow it might help it actually, but it also could blow it,” Trump said Thursday before Israel’s strikes.
But as tensions rose, the State Department had urged nonessential personnel to evacuate the American embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, citing growing tensions in the region. By Thursday morning, the Department had restricted U.S. government personnel and their families from traveling outside the greater Tel Aviv area in Israel. Separately, a U.S. defense official told Scripps News that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth had authorized the voluntary departure of military dependents from locations across the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility (AOR), a vast region including the Middle East, Central Asia, and parts of South Asia.
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But following the attacks, President Trump indicated Iran had not met a deadline to reach a deal. The president stated that he gave Iran 60 days to make a deal, and that day reached 61 on Thursday. “I told them what to do, but they just couldn’t get there. Now they have, perhaps, a second chance!” he wrote on Truth Social.
“This reinforces a deadline is a deadline under President Trump and there are costs to rejecting U.S. offers,” said Jason Brodsky, a non-resident scholar at the Middle East Institute’s Iran Program.
On Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent well wishes and thanks to President Trump, as Trump celebrated his 79th birthday alongside the US Army’s 250th anniversary with a military parade in Washington.
“We paved the way to Tehran and our pilots over the skies of Tehran will deal blows to the Ayatollah regime that they cannot even imagine. I can tell you this, we have indications that senior leaders in Iran are already packing their bags. They sense what's coming,” Netanyahu said.
Some experts are closely monitoring the political impact of developments on the ground in Iran.
“For me, I think the most important developments will be what happens on the ground in Iran as well, in addition to the Israeli strikes,” said Alireza Nader, an analyst on Iran. “Let’s not forget that only three years ago, there was the mass uprising, popular uprising inside Iran against this regime.”
The Israeli strikes have targeted nuclear scientists, military commanders, and an enrichment facility, according to Netanyahu.
“This has not played out well for Iran at all when you come back to this original decision to attack Israel on October 7, I mean, potentially, one of the greatest strategic errors in military history might end up being that,” said Ledeen.
The conflict between the two countries stands to be a significant focus as Trump meets with other world leaders at the G7 summit next week in Canada.
