U.S. and Iran Trade Threats as IDF Prepares for Further Escalation, 'A Crucial Junction'

The IDF and the Air Force are preparing for the possibility of further escalation following the American strikes in Iran. A senior officer said this evening (Wednesday) in an interview with Channel 13 News that Israel is at a "crucial junction. Today we continued to strike in southern Lebanon and missiles were not launched from Iran. Either Trump will say we are going all the way, or there will be an agreement."

According to the same officer, "No American plane or pilot left Israel," and he added that the Americans had conveyed a message saying they "still have not finished the job." At the same time, the Air Force shortened its response times for a strike in Iran.

The remarks come against the backdrop of threats from U.S. President Donald Trump, the latest of which came this evening: "Iran needs to sign the deal. Like we struck it yesterday, we are going to hit them very hard today as well." A short time later, Ibrahim Azizi, chairman of the National Security Committee in the Iranian parliament, threatened and said that "this time, the war will not be limited to this region alone."

At the same time, Defense Minister Israel Katz said at the Israel Defense Prize ceremony that "the campaign against Iran is far from over," and that "the IDF is prepared to attack with great force." He said, "We must not think the job is done. If Iran attacks Israel, it will suffer a severe blow as we did a few days ago."

Meanwhile, Trump also responded to the remarks of his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who claimed that "the strikes carried out by Israel in Syria and Lebanon endanger Turkey." Trump said that Erdogan is "a friend, and we work well together. I like him. I did not hear what he said, if I had heard about it I would have called him."

In the afternoon, after threatening Iran once again and saying he was "close to resuming the strikes in Iran," Trump told Channel 13 News that "additional American strikes in Iran are a real option."

Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf responded to the threats and said: "Any aggression will be met with a direct and decisive response." An Iranian military spokesman added: "We have already proven that we respond to threats appropriately."