Global Condemnation Mounts As Trump Bows to Israeli War Agenda
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Amid mounting international condemnation, new revelations expose how US President Donald Trump succumbed to Israeli pressure in authorizing a military strike on Iran, a move widely slammed as unlawful and destabilizing.
Scott Lucas, professor of US and international politics at University College Dublin, told Al Jazeera that Trump shifted from diplomacy to aggression under Israeli manipulation.
“Because Donald Trump got played by the Israelis; some might say manipulated,” Lucas said.
According to Lucas, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, frustrated by Trump’s earlier turn towards diplomacy, informed Washington in mid-May that Tel Aviv would proceed unilaterally with military operations.
“In mid-May, the Israelis whose prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been embarrassed in February, when Trump said he was going to pursue a diplomatic path, let the Trump administration know, ‘look we’re going ahead with the attacks’,” Lucas explained.
The Trump administration, after internal deliberations, chose on June 8 to support the Israeli assault that launched on June 13.
“So over the course of next nine days, Israel has hit not just nuclear sites but military sites and civilian sites,” he said, describing this as “the first phase.”
Lucas stated that Trump now faces two critical uncertainties.
First, whether the so-called “bunker busters” inflicted real damage on Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility.
Second, whether domestic divisions among his political base will deepen over the attack.
“If this is a one-off strike... then Trump gets away from the domestic problems of the split among his base,” Lucas noted.
“But if Fordow has not been damaged... then I think the Americans may have to go back in again and Trump is going to have that risk that it is going to alienate some of his supporters.”
The global response to the illegal US strike has been swift and severe.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry condemned the attack as a blatant violation of international law.
“The irresponsible decision to subject the territory of a sovereign state to missile and bomb attacks... flagrantly violates international law, the Charter of the United Nations, and the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council,” the statement said.
Moscow called for an immediate halt to US aggression and a return to diplomacy.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi is scheduled to visit President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
Spain also voiced deep concern over the reckless American action.
Speaking to RTVE, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares Bueno emphasized that a military solution cannot bring peace to the region.
“It is not a military solution that will bring peace and stability to the Middle East, but rather diplomacy,” he said.
Spain urged all parties to resume talks to avoid further escalation.
