President Donald Trump has indicated he is weighing what he described as the biggest U.S. military strike ever launched against Iran, even as some Israeli cities took precautionary steps by unlocking public bomb shelters ahead of the weekend.
In an interview with Axios, Trump made his position clear: “I am considering a massive attack. Bigger than ever before. I am close to making a decision. We are all set for it.”
The president added that Israel would be quick to join any military action if asked, saying the country “would join in two minutes if I ask them to.” However, Trump stressed that the U.S. would not require Israeli or allied support to carry out such an operation. He also cautioned that Israeli participation could bring “consequences” — an apparent reference to the likelihood of Iranian retaliatory missile strikes on Israeli soil.
Despite the strong language, Trump did not give a timeline for when a decision might come. Two U.S. officials confirmed that no final call had been made and that no new military orders had been handed down. Trump also acknowledged that Iran has shown some interest in reaching a deal, but said the country has not yet agreed to one. “They haven’t received enough pain yet,” he said.
Two regional officials with knowledge of the ongoing mediation efforts confirmed that Iranian leadership has rejected the most recent U.S. proposal. One of those officials said, “We are trying, but the Iranians are not being helpful.”
The remarks follow 12 consecutive days of escalating U.S. military operations aimed at stopping Iranian attacks on commercial ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
Meanwhile, in Israel, the cities of Ramat Gan, Eilat, and Karmiel announced Thursday that they had opened all public bomb shelters. Local officials said their threat assessments determined that the chance of Iranian missile strikes over the weekend had grown and could no longer be dismissed as unlikely.
Ramat Gan Mayor Carmel Shama-Hacohen shared the news on social media, writing, “We decided to open all the shelters in the city.” He went on to explain the reasoning: “A situation assessment found that the risk of missile fire from Iran over the weekend has increased and is no longer negligible. Despite the cost of opening them, it is right to exercise extra caution, and hopefully this opening will prove unnecessary.”
Shama-Hacohen also urged residential building committees to prepare shared shelters for potential use, writing, “I call on all building committees to ready the shared shelters.”
Later on Thursday, the Israel Defense Forces clarified that it had not issued any directive ordering the opening of public shelters and stated that Home Front Command guidelines and policies had not changed.
