President Donald Trump said Monday evening that the United States was scheduled to attack Iran last night but chose to give Tehran a final diplomatic opportunity, warning of a 'beheading' strike if the offer is not taken. The remark adds a new timeline element to Trump's escalating rhetoric against Iran.
President Donald Trump said Monday evening that the United States had been scheduled to launch a strike on Iran overnight Sunday but chose to give Tehran a final diplomatic opportunity, warning of a "beheading" operation if the offer is not taken. The remark, reported at 21:04 Jerusalem, adds a new timeline element to his escalating rhetoric.
The statement emerged in a sequence of rapid-fire declarations by Trump this evening, all reported within minutes of each other. Earlier, Trump said Iran's diplomatic window is its "last opportunity," claimed the US was on the verge of a massive attack, and repeatedly threatened a "beheading" strike. The Zioneer reported these developments at 21:04 Jerusalem, citing reports by Yair Goldblatt and later Amichai Stein of i24NEWS. The new detail — that a strike was scheduled for the previous night — was included in the later versions of the evening's statements, as Trump also expressed hope that Iran would be "reasonable."
The evening's remarks come against the backdrop of sustained US military pressure on Iran. As The Zioneer reported on June 11 and July 14, the US military conducted consecutive waves of airstrikes on Iranian military infrastructure following the collapse of the Islamabad memorandum. Trump has since issued a series of ultimatums, including a "final ultimatum" and threats of a "beheading" strike. The President has characterized his approach as "gentle" while maintaining the threat of devastating military action.
It remains unclear whether the claimed scheduled strike was actually approved and then called off, or was a rhetorical device. No new airstrikes have been reported since the previous waves concluded. The status of ongoing negotiations between Washington and Tehran remains uncertain.
10 developments
- StrongTrump: Iran learned of US attack through leaks, warns of 'beheading'
- DevelopingTrump claims Iran asked him not to attack tonight, says he intends to order strong strike
- StrongTrump says US was about to launch 'hardest attack since WWII'; Iran and other leaders begged to stop it
- DevelopingTrump warns US ready to strike Iran 'whenever we want' as talks set for Monday afternoon
Source and signal
- Open-source intake