The Middle East teetered on the edge of wider war Sunday as Iran launched a massive missile attack on Israel in retaliation for devastating Israeli airstrikes that killed dozens and severely damaged Tehran’s nuclear facilities, while President Donald Trump insisted America played no role in the escalating conflict.
Iran fired approximately 100 missiles and drones at Israeli territory following Friday’s surprise Israeli assault, which involved 200 warplanes striking more than 100 targets across Iran. Dubbed “Operation Rising Lion,” the operation specifically targeted Iran’s main uranium enrichment facility at Natanz and killed senior Iranian military officials.
At least 10 people were were reportedly killed in Israel from the Iranian missile barrage and hundreds injured.
“The U.S. had nothing to do with the attack on Iran tonight,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform early Sunday, but warned, “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.”
Iran’s second strikes against Israel in 24 hours strikes came just days after the regime’s Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh issued a stark warning to Washington. “If a conflict is imposed on us … all U.S. bases are within our reach and we will boldly target them in host countries,” he told reporters Wednesday.
Just hours before the Israeli strikes, American officials were still planning to attend a sixth round of talks scheduled for today in Oman. That diplomatic track now appears dead in the water.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio also moved quickly to distance the U.S. from Israel’s unilateral action.
“Tonight, Israel took unilateral action against Iran,” Rubio said in a White House statement. “We are not involved in strikes against Iran and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region.”
Despite the violence, Trump continued pressing Iran to accept a nuclear deal, in an earlier warning of even worse consequences ahead.
“There has already been great death and destruction, but there is still time to make this slaughter, with the next already planned attacks being even more brutal, come to an end,” he wrote. “Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left.”
Meanwhile, Trump’s administration had already begun preparing for potential retaliation, evacuating non-essential personnel from U.S. embassies across the Middle East and authorizing military dependents to leave the region. According to Reuters, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has already approved voluntary departures from bases housing American forces.
