KOENIG

US President Donald Trump says he has called off a major attack on Iran after being assured by Tehran and other Middle East countries that a framework for a deal to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz and “end the Iran nuclear threat” has been reached, adding that Israel is also on board with holding off on a major strike against the Islamic Republic.

“The USA is locked and loaded and ready to go against the Islamic Republic of Iran, at levels of military terror, strength and Power not seen since World War II,” Trump writes on Truth Social.

“Despite this, we have just been asked by Iran, and other Middle Eastern countries to hold off any attack in that the perimeters of a deal has been agreed to,” he continues.

“This would include the Immediate, complete, and total OPENING OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT and an end to Iran’s nuclear threat,” Trump claims.

This does not mean Israel will take part in US strikes. However, Israeli officials are preparing for the possibility that Iran will launch missiles at Israel as American attacks intensify. The country's air defense systems have therefore been placed on extremely high alert.

The IDF's offensive units are on alert in case Israel is required to respond, or US President Donald Trump asks it to join the operation. In addition, the IDF has independent plans for strikes in Iran, as well as joint plans with the US Central Command, but it is far from certain that Israel will participate in any American attack on Iran.

The main reason Trump may seek Israel's involvement is the professionalism and exceptional capabilities of the Israeli Air Force. During Operation "Lion's Roar," it achieved highly successful results and demonstrated capabilities in areas where the US military has been less effective.

Israel has raised the alert and readiness amid assessments that US President Donald Trump is close to deciding to resume military strikes against Iran, potentially on an even larger scale, two Israeli sources told The Jerusalem Post.

Israeli officials told the Post that “we are on high alert and awaiting the president’s final decision.”

While it remains unclear whether Trump would seek to involve Israel in the initial phase of such an operation, Israel’s working assumption is that any major strike on Iran, even one carried out without direct Israeli participation, would likely draw Israel into the conflict.

US President Donald Trump has ordered another wave of strikes against Iran, with the aim of forcing the Islamic Republic’s surrender, The Wall Street Journal reported early Saturday, with other reports suggesting Israel could take part in attacks expected to target Iran’s energy infrastructure.

The United States and Israel are considering a plan to tighten Iran’s land borders as part of a broader campaign to increase pressure on Tehran, The Daily Telegraph reported Friday.

The proposal was among several options discussed by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during talks at the White House on Tuesday, according to the report.

The plan would require Washington and Jerusalem to persuade Iran’s seven land neighbours to restrict border traffic, limiting imports, exports and potentially weapons shipments. Iran borders Iraq, Turkey, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Armenia and Azerbaijan.

President Trump has ordered a fresh attack on Iran aimed at getting Tehran to surrender that could begin as soon as this weekend and would last a few days, U.S. officials said.

Earlier on Friday, he told reporters that he planned to resume heavy military strikes to force the regime to come to the negotiating table. He predicted that if the U.S. hit Iran hard enough, the hard-line regime would eventually “peter out.”

“We will be hitting them very hard,” Trump said Friday at the televised cabinet meeting. “And you know at some point, they’re going to say, ‘We just can’t take it anymore.’”

His comments, made during a cabinet meeting at the Camp David presidential retreat, were in contrast to his insistence earlier this week that “very friendly negotiations” were under way, enabling a pause on military operations. Since then, Iran launched a surprise attack on troops in Jordan, triggering a U.S. retaliatory attack on Wednesday.

The U.S. military launched what it described as a “heavy wave of strikes” against Iranian targets on Wednesday, hours after U.S. President Donald Trump warned Washington would be “hitting them hard” in response to Tehran’s recent attacks on American forces.

U.S. Central Command said the “powerful response,” which lasted for some two hours, hit dozens of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps sites across the Islamic Republic. According to CENTCOM, it struck military command centers, missile and drone facilities, coastal surveillance and defense sites, as well as maritime capabilities. The military said the strikes were intended to further reduce threats posed by the Islamic regime and its regional proxies to U.S. forces, commercial shipping and neighboring Gulf states.

The operation followed what CENTCOM described as an “attempted surprise attack” on July 28, when the IRGC fired multiple ballistic missiles at U.S. forces across the region.

Iran is storing centrifuges at Pickaxe Mountain, a senior Israeli diplomatic source said Wednesday.

Israel does not believe Iran’s nuclear program has been completely destroyed, the source told reporters who accompanied Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to his meeting with US President Donald Trump in Washington on Tuesday.

“The goal is how to bring the nuclear program to an end,” the source said, adding that Israel had targeted nuclear scientists, enrichment facilities, centrifuges, and other infrastructure, successfully setting the program back, “but not forever.”

Speaking with journalists after the Trump-Netanyahu meeting, a senior Israeli diplomatic source reveals new details from the talks. "Iran dominated the talks," the source said. "Trump is weighing three options: a nuclear deal, maintaining and intensifying the economic blockade, or renewed military strikes."

Despite the options, Netanyahu did not tell Trump that Israel's preference is a strike, stating, "our preference is the outcome. The decision is ultimately his."

Right now, Iran is under severe economic pressure, with the source citing fuel and diesel shortages, inflation of around 90%, and the beginning of public protests. Israel is now looking to increase the pressure on Iran to amplify these issues, "both economically and kinetically."

July 29 (Reuters) - Iran is expected to receive within weeks a first shipment out of up to 400 Chinese-made shoulder-fired air-defence missile launchers, three sources familiar with the deal told Reuters, as it rebuilds its defences amid war with the United States.

The purchase, valued at $60-70 million, ‌is one of Tehran's largest-known efforts to strengthen its short-range air defences since the outbreak of its war with the U.S. and Israel, which exposed gaps in ‌Iran's ability to protect military sites and strategic infrastructure.

The contract covers the purchase of between 300 and 400 man-portable air defence systems (MANPADS), including Chinese-made QW-12 and FN-16 missiles, the sources said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the White House Tuesday for his first in-person talks with US President Donald Trump since the Iran war began in February, and later described their meeting as “excellent” and “one of the best we’ve ever had.” The White House succinctly called the talks productive and positive.

The meeting took place behind closed doors in the Oval Office, with reporters not invited in and without a press conference afterwards.

Netanyahu entered the White House through a side entrance that was only partially visible to reporters, and left without fanfare some 90 minutes later. Held in the Oval Office with the leaders’ respective delegations, it was the eighth meeting between the leaders since Trump’s return to office in early 2025.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has arrived at the White House for his meeting with US President Donald Trump.

It is their eighth sit-down of Trump’s second term, but their first since the US and Israel launched a war against Iran in February.

Netanyahu enters the White House through a side entrance that is only partially visible to reporters.

US President Trump said he halted the planned expansion of US military strikes against Iran to allow diplomatic efforts to continue, while warning that military action remains an option if negotiations fail.

Speaking to Axios, Trump said discussions are focused on reopening the Strait of Hormuz and reviving broader negotiations over Iran's nuclear program.

Asked how long he was willing to give diplomacy, Trump replied: "Not much time. Either it moves forward quickly, or not at all."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu departed for Washington on Monday afternoon ahead of a White House meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, his office said.

The prime minister was initially expected to fly out around 11 a.m. Israel time, but his departure was delayed. Wing of Zion, Israel’s official state aircraft, took off around 1 p.m. from the Nevatim Air Force Base near Beersheva, the Kan Newspublic broadcaster reported.

“I am on my way to Washington for a meeting with our friend, President Donald Trump,” Netanyahu said in a statement released by his office. “This is my eighth meeting with him since he was elected president for his second term—more than any other world leader.

After the United States refrained from striking Iran overnight Friday-Saturday for the first day in two weeks, Hebrew media reported Saturday that Jerusalem had been prepared for a major escalation in the war over the weekend, which never came. Despite the pause, Israeli leaders still estimate that US President Donald Trump would soon be compelled to step up military action, the reports said.

After the quiet night in Iran, there were also no reports on Saturday of attacks by Iran on its Gulf neighbors, which have been taking place daily as well.

Trump personally ordered the US military not to strike Iran on Friday and Saturday, Axios reported, citing two sources with knowledge of the directive.