As heavy exchanges of missile fire continue and the death toll mounts on both sides, European leaders want to pin down Donald Trump on his Iran strategy – including getting a definitive response on whether he will use his influence over Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to have the warring parties call a ceasefire or instead let them continue fighting.
Predicting “peace soon” between Israel and Iran, Trump appeared to have learned little from his 2024 election boast that he could stop the Russia-Ukraine war in “24 hours”. If Israel and Iran can be convinced to call a ceasefire, it might allow the rescheduling of US talks with Iran on its civil nuclear programme that had been set for Sunday but were cancelled after Israel launched its assault on Thursday night.
