Iran and Israel exchanged fire for a sixth day after US President Donald Trump met with his national security team to discuss the escalating conflict, fuelling fresh speculation that Washington is on the verge of joining the attacks.

The meeting in the US capital on Tuesday lasted more than an hour, according to people familiar with the matter. Trump spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu afterwards, according to a White House official. No further official comments were made.

American weapons are seen as crucial to achieving a more complete destruction of the Islamic Republic’s atomic program. Yet while the US is Israel’s closest defence partner and arms supplier, Trump has so far resisted calls from some political allies to join in strikes against Iran. For now, the US says it’s only acting by helping Israel intercept missiles launched against it by Tehran.

Before gathering his advisers in the Situation Room, Trump posted a demand for Iran’s “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER” and warned of a possible strike against the country’s leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

“We know exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding,” Trump said on social media. “He is an easy target, but is safe there - We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now.”

Both Israel and Iran indicated that they planned to continue strikes.

The Israel Defense Forces said it had identified missiles launched from Iran toward Israel overnight and intercepted most of them. Early on Wednesday, the IDF said it hit a facility that made centrifuges for uranium enrichment.

The New York Times reported that Iran was preparing missiles for retaliatory strikes on US military interests in the Middle East if Trump decides on an offensive campaign.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told the country’s public broadcaster ZDF that if Iran doesn’t return to the negotiating table, then “the complete destruction of Iran’s nuclear program may be on the agenda.” 

Iran had been negotiating with the US for two months over a nuclear deal before Israel launched its assault. The now-suspended talks were about curbing Tehran’s atomic program — which it insists is for peaceful, non-military purposes — in return for sanctions relief.

Trump earlier Tuesday posted on social media that “we now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran,” crediting US military equipment for helping Israel gain air superiority.

His vice president, JD Vance, said Trump was “making clear to the American people and the entire world that the US policy is that Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon.” 

“There are many different ways and different options at the president’s disposal for how to accomplish that policy goal,” Vance said.

US stocks declined on Tuesday as Trump played down the possibility of a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, fueling widespread fears the war would spread to other countries in the energy-producing region. Oil climbed near a five-month high. Brent was steady at $76.40 a barrel in early trading on Wednesday.

On Tuesday evening, the State Department announced that the US Embassy in Jerusalem, as well as consular sections in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, would be closed for the next three days.

The US is moving more military assets to the region. The USS Nimitz aircraft carrier strike group is sailing to the Middle East ahead of schedule, marking the first significant such move. 

New satellite images suggest Israeli strikes damaged underground uranium-enrichment facilities at Natanz, Iran’s primary nuclear-fuel production site, the United Nations nuclear watchdog said in a post on X. The International Atomic Energy Agency has yet to detect damage at Iran’s other underground enrichment site in Fordow, according to the statement. 

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a longtime advocate of war against Iran, said he “100% supports” US participation in striking Fordow. 

“I’m all in for destroying their nuclear program. You can’t do it without destroying Fordow,” he told reporters in Washington. “If it takes bombs, bunker-buster bombs, so be it. If we need to fly with Israel, so be it.”

Israel has sought to draw the US — which has provided defensive support against Iranian missile fire — deeper into the conflict. Netanyahu told ABC News on Monday that the countries share a common enemy in Iran, and that it’s in America’s interest to support Israel.

Trump has left open the possibility of further talks on Iran’s atomic activities after five earlier rounds, but continued to hammer the idea that Tehran is at fault for not having already agreed to a deal that would have prevented Israel’s attacks. He told reporters that he “may” instruct a high-level official, such as special envoy Steven Witkoff or Vance, to meet with Iranian representatives.

Israel said it saw a drop-off in Iranian fire on Tuesday, with a military spokesperson saying “a few dozen” missiles had been launched since midnight compared with the hundreds seen over the weekend.

Still, Israel’s Oil Refineries Ltd. shut down its refinery after the complex was damaged and three employees were killed, the company said Monday. The site has a peak production capacity of close to 200,000 barrels of oil per day, with 70 per cent of products distributed in the Israeli market.

Long-standing tensions between Iran and Israel erupted into open fighting last week, when Israel carried out surprise attacks on Iranian military and nuclear sites and killed senior commanders and atomic scientists. Since then, it has achieved air superiority over much of Iran, allowing it to bomb major cities and infrastructure at will.

For Iran’s government, the showdown poses a existential threat. It can’t risk appearing weak, yet its retaliatory options are shrinking. Proxy forces it supports across the region have been largely degraded by Israeli wars since Oct. 2023.

More than 200 people have been killed in Iran by the Israeli strikes, according to the last official tally from the Iranian government. In Israel, the government has said 24 people have been killed — the same number reported the day before — and more than 600 injured.

Oil prices have risen in the past week as the conflict escalated, raising concerns about a wider hit to the global economy. Many analysts say Iran could choose to attack tankers sailing through the Strait of Hormuz, a key energy trade route. Qatar on Tuesday asked liquefied natural gas vessels to wait outside the strait until they’re ready to load amid the escalating clash.

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Published on June 18, 2025