US PRESIDENT Donald Trump said that Iran was willing to abandon its pursuit of nuclear weapons and sign an agreement with the United States, as he claimed American military operations had severely weakened Tehran’s military capabilities. Speaking during a virtual tele-rally for South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham ahead of Tuesday’s Republican primary, Trump devoted much of his remarks to Iran, ongoing negotiations and the broader security situation in the Middle East. “We’re negotiating now and they wanna make a very good deal. They’re willing to give us everything. They’re willing to give us no nuclear weapon,” Trump said. “Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon and it’s as simple as that.” Trump claimed US military action had inflicted extensive damage on Iran’s military infrastructure.

 

“We’ve decimated their military. We’ve decimated their, everything there is to decimate, including their leadership,” he said. “Their navy is totally gone. They had 159 ships. Every ship is underwater right now.” The President predicted a favourable outcome from negotiations and said a formal declaration of victory could come soon. “I think we are winning that battle, but you’re really gonna win it over the next two weeks when we declare total victory,” Trump said. “It’ll be a total victory. It’ll happen very soon and oil prices will come tumbling down.” The remarks came as Trump urged Republican voters in South Carolina to support Graham, a longtime ally who has been one of the Senate’s most vocal advocates of a hard line towards Iran. “And Lindsey has been fighting with me all the way, all the way for that,” Trump said.

 

“We’ve been a very tough team.” Trump also praised Graham’s role on border security, military spending and conservative judicial appointments. “I’ve known Senator Lindsey Graham for many years and he’s always been a tireless advocate for the people of South Carolina,” Trump said. The President described Graham as having his “complete and total endorsement” and urged voters to support him in Tuesday’s Republican primary. Trump also endorsed South Carolina Lieutenant Governor Pamela Evette, calling her “an America first patriot” and predicting she would become a successful Governor. 

 

ISRAELI Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the attack against Iran is currently “on hold,” but warned that Israel will respond forcefully if Iran resumes its attacks. “At the moment, the fire is on hold because after ... it (Iran) stopped attacking us,” Netanyahu said in his first televised statement more than 20 hours after Iran first launched missiles at Israel on Sunday night. If Iran “makes the mistake of attacking us again, we will respond with force,” he added. Netanyahu said he had ordered the military to strike military and economic targets across Iran on Monday. Following Netanyahu’s statement, Israel’s Home Front Command said it will lift most civil defence restrictions across the country on Tuesday morning.

 

The current restrictions would remain in place until 6:00 AM on Tuesday, the Home Front Command said. From then, most of the country will return to full activity, while restrictions will remain in place in several northern communities near the Lebanese border. Earlier in the day, Iran’s main military command, Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, announced the cessation of the Iranian armed forces’ operations against Israel, the semi-official Fars news agency reported. In a statement, the headquarters warned that any further Israeli “aggression and malicious acts,” including in southern Lebanon, would trigger a much more “severe and crushing” response. “Our priority is national security and the peace of our people. We will defend the rights of the nation with authority and will not retreat in the face of any threat. Diplomacy and defence are the two wings of national power; we have neither abandoned the field nor the negotiating table. God willing, with unity and rationality, Iran will emerge triumphant from this trial as well,” Pezeshkian wrote on X. The headquarters said that the Iranian armed forces’ actions were carried out in support of the Lebanese people following Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon and the Dahieh district south of the Lebanese capital, Beirut. 

 

 

IRANIAN state television on Tuesday reported that at least two members of an air defence unit were killed in the Israeli attacks that rocked the country the day before. Iranian state TV identified the men as Bahman Hosseini and Ali Reza Abiri, without offering a rank for them. Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said that they have neither abandoned the field nor the negotiating table.