Trump says Iran war could last weeks as Netanyahu defends decision to attack

As the war in the Middle East intensifies US President Donald Trump said that the US has the capability to go far longer than its projected fourtofiveweek time frame for its military operations against IranAcross Tehran the sound of explosions rang out through the night and into the early morning hours on Tuesday as the US and Israel have continued to pound Iran since killing its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on SaturdayTehran and its allies have hit back against Israel neighbouring Gulf states and targets critical to the worlds production of oil and natural gasThe intensity of the attacks and the lack of any apparent exit plan set the stage for a prolonged conflict with farreaching consequences Israel and the US have given conflicting answers about what exactly the wars objectives are or what the endgame might beIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu late Monday defended the decision to go to war contending in an interview on Fox News Channels Hannity that Iran was rebuilding new sites new places that would make their ballistic missile program and their atomic bomb program immune within months without providing evidenceSatellite photos analysed by The Associated Press showed limited activity at two nuclear sites in Iran before the war with analysts saying it was likely Tehran was trying to assess damage from American strikes in June and possibly salvage what remained thereHere is the latestTurkiye urges a halt to attacks and calls for diplomacyTurkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan renewed his call for an end to escalating violence and a return to diplomacyOur fundamental request and demand is clear the mutual attacks must stop immediately and diplomacy must resume Fidan said according to a transcript of his remarks to journalists late MondayThe minister said Turkiye consistently emphasises this message during talks with other leadersCommenting on Irans attacks on Gulf states facilities Fidan said Iran hopes these countries will pressure the United States to stop the war while adding he believes that outcome is not likelyItaly arranges flights to bring home stranded citizensThe Italian government said Tuesday it is working nonstop to assist Italian citizens stranded in the Middle EastItaly scheduled two flights including one from Muscat Oman to Romes Fiumicino airport on Tuesday to carry around 300 people and another from Abu Dhabi to Milan to carry about 200 people mostly young studentsAnother two flights are set to depart from Abu Dhabi to Milan and Rome in the early afternoon on Tuesday while an additional flight from Muscat has been scheduled for WednesdayItalys Defence Minister Guido Crosetto sparked a political controversy at home after being stranded in Dubai with his family during the initial phase of the USIsraeli attack on Iran returning to Rome on Sunday on a military aircraftThe leftwing opposition called for Crosettos resignation stressing that the minister travelled alone to an area of crisis without being informed of the deteriorating situation Premier Giorgia Meloni defended the minister on Monday saying he never stopped doing his jobRomanian pilgrims return to Bucharest from IsraelRomanian tourists arrived in Bucharest early Tuesday after travelling from Israel to Cairo to escape the conflictHundreds of Romanian Orthodox Church pilgrims were stranded in Israel while visiting Bethlehem on a trip led by Romanian priests when the war broke out The group was forced to cut their trip short to return to RomaniaRomanian pilgrim Mariana Muicaru said she was terrified as rockets flew across the sky in IsraelWe called our children at 3 am to ask forgiveness because we might die and to tell them we love them and to let them know that its over for us she told The Associated PressKremlin says Putin will convey Gulf leaders concern to TehranThe Kremlin said Tuesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin will convey the Gulf leaders concern over the Iranian strikes on their territory to IranKremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Putin will make every effort to facilitate at least minor easing of tensionHe noted that after Mondays calls with the leaders of the United Arab Emirates Qatar Bahrain and Saudi Arabia Putin will convey their deep concern about the strikes on their infrastructure to TehranHezbollah official says group will fight open war with IsraelA senior Hezbollah official says that after more than a year of abiding by the ceasefire as Israels strikes continued on Lebanon the groups patience has ended leaving it with no option but to return to resistance and fight an open war with IsraelMohamoud Komati said Tuesday that Hezbollah exercised patience since a ceasefire ended the IsraelHezbollah war in November 2024 hoping the governments diplomatic efforts would yield positive results in ending Israeli strikesIn the comments released by Hezbollahs media office Komati blasted the Lebanese government for calling Hezbollahs actions illegal and demanded it hand over its weapons saying it did not act to stop Israels airstrikes that continued on an almost daily basis for nearly 15 monthsThe Zionist enemy wanted an open war which it has not stopped since the ceasefire agreement Komati said So let it be an open warThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever