JAKARTA - Iran and Israel attacked each other by air on Thursday. Meanwhile, the United States has reportedly prepared an option for a possible plan to attack Iran to help Israel.
Israel's week-long air and missile attacks against its main competitors have destroyed Iranian military command officials, undermined its nuclear capabilities, and killed hundreds, while Iran's retaliatory attacks have killed more than 20 civilians in Israel.
Reuters reported on Thursday, June 19, the worst conflict ever between these two hostile countries raised fears the conflict would involve world powers and shake regional stability that has been undermined by the continued impact of the Gaza war.
Speaking to reporters outside the White House on Wednesday, June 18, US President Donald Trump declined to say whether he had made a decision on whether to join Israeli air operations.
"I might do it. I probably wouldn't do it. I mean, no one knows what I'm going to do," he said.
Trump said in a subsequent statement that Iranian officials wanted to come to Washington to meet.
"We might do it," Trump said.
But he said it was a bit 'delayed' for such talks.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rebuked Trump's previous call for Iran to surrender in a speech recorded on television, his first appearance since last Friday.
"The Iranian nation will not give up," Khamenei said.
Iran denies it is preparing nuclear weapons and says its program is only for peaceful purposes.
Reported by The Wall Street Journal, Trump reportedly told his senior aides he approved plans for an attack on Iran but delayed giving final orders to see if Tehran would halt its nuclear program.
Senior US officials are preparing for a possible attack on Iran in the coming days, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
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Drone Attack
On Thursday morning, air defenses were activated in Tehran, intercepting drones on the outskirts of the capital, SNN's semi-official news agency reported.
Iran also captured 18 "enemy agents" who were preparing drones for Israeli attacks on the northeastern city of Mashhad.
The Israeli military said the sirens sounded in northern Israel and in the Jordan Valley on Thursday. They intercepted two unmanned aircraft launched from Iran.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday said Israel was "stepping step by step" towards the removal of threats posed by Iran's nuclear site and ballistic missile arsenal.
"We attacked nuclear sites, missiles, headquarters, symbols of the regime," Netanyahu said.
Israel, which is not a party to the international Non-Proliferation Treaty, is the only country in the Middle East believed to have nuclear weapons. Israel did not deny or confirm this.
Netanyahu also thanked Trump, "a good friend of the Israeli state," for standing by his side in the conflict, saying the two continued to be in touch.
Trump has turned from proposing a quick diplomatic settlement to war to advise the United States to join.
In a social media post on Tuesday, he thinks about Khamenei's murder.
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