As Iran launched a barrage of ballistic missiles at Israel, US President Donald Trump on Sunday expressed confidence that the long-standing adversaries in the Middle East would reach a peace agreement "soon." Referring to his earlier claim of brokering a ceasefire between India and Pakistan, Trump said that Israel and Iran should also come to the negotiating table and make a deal.
News Arena Network - Washington D.C. - UPDATED: June 15, 2025, 08:36 PM - 2 min read
US President Donald Trump.
As tensions in the Middle East escalated dramatically with Iran firing a barrage of ballistic missiles at Israel, former US President Donald Trump on Sunday expressed confidence that the two arch-rivals would reach a peace agreement "soon." Speaking through a statement on his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump drew parallels with previous instances during his presidency where he claimed to have brokered peace between warring nations.
He cited his role in defusing tensions between India and Pakistan, and later, between Serbia and Kosovo, as examples of his diplomatic success. He suggested that similar intervention could bring Iran and Israel to the negotiating table. Referring to his claimed mediation in the 2019 India-Pakistan conflict, Trump said, "Iran and Israel should make a deal, and will make a deal, just like I got India and Pakistan to make—in that case, by using trade with the United States to bring reason, cohesion, and sanity into the talks with two excellent leaders who were able to quickly make a decision and stop!"
He also mentioned conflicts between Egypt and Ethiopia over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Nile, asserting that his intervention led to a temporary peace. "Likewise, we will have peace, soon, between Israel and Iran! Many calls and meetings are now taking place," Trump added.
Israeli soldiers dig through rubble to search for survivors in a residential area hit by a missile fired from Iran, in Bat Yam, central Israel, Sunday.
He blamed current US President Joe Biden for allowing global conflicts to worsen through what he described as “very stupid decisions,” and pledged to resolve these if elected again. Trump emphasized that although he often receives little credit for his diplomatic efforts, he believes the public understands and appreciates his role in conflict resolution. “Make the Middle East Great Again,” he concluded.
Trump’s remarks came in the wake of Israel launching "Operation Rising Lion" early Friday, a large-scale military campaign that targeted Iran’s nuclear facilities, missile systems, and military command infrastructure. In retaliation, Iran launched missile and drone attacks deep into Israeli territory. The back-and-forth attacks have triggered global alarm over the potential for a broader regional war.
The ongoing conflict, now in its third day, has grown increasingly deadly. In Tehran, an Israeli missile strike on a residential high-rise killed at least 60 people, including 29 children, according to Iranian officials. In a separate incident in northern Israel, an Iranian strike near a home claimed the lives of three women and injured ten others. Following this, Iranian forces fired a fresh wave of ballistic missiles into Israel, one of which struck an apartment building in the Galilee region, killing four people, according to Israeli emergency responders.
In a significant escalation, Israeli forces expanded their military operations on Saturday by targeting Iran's defence ministry headquarters in Tehran, as well as striking the world’s largest natural gas processing plant in Iran’s Bushehr province, located near the South Pars gas field along the Persian Gulf. These strikes marked a deepening of Israel's offensive strategy, shifting from isolated military installations to key economic and energy infrastructure.
Earlier on Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had ordered a sweeping aerial bombardment of over 150 strategic sites across Iran, including the major nuclear facilities at Natanz and Isfahan. These strikes reportedly resulted in the deaths of several top Iranian military commanders and nine nuclear scientists. Netanyahu described Iran’s nuclear ambitions as being in “the 90th minute,” vowing that the scale of future attacks would surpass what had been witnessed so far. “What they have felt so far is nothing compared with what they will be handed in the coming days,” he warned.
Iran responded with overwhelming force, launching approximately 200 ballistic missiles and drones at Israel in four separate waves. Israeli defence forces reported that the majority of these projectiles were intercepted with assistance from U.S. missile defence systems. Nevertheless, the sheer volume of attacks and growing civilian casualties on both sides have fueled fears of a protracted and catastrophic regional war.
The conflict has drawn international concern. At the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, India called for de-escalation through “dialogue and diplomacy.” While the China-led grouping issued a strong condemnation of Israel’s military actions, India refrained from endorsing the statement, instead choosing a more neutral position and stressing the need for restraint by all parties involved.
As the situation continues to unfold, the international community remains on edge, watching closely as diplomatic efforts attempt to intervene amid rising hostilities between two of the region’s most heavily armed nations.
Follow us
