Israel preparing strikes on Iran energy sites, awaits US green light - Reuters

Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel has destroyed 70% of Iran’s steel production and targeted petrochemical plants in Saturday’s strikes.

“After we destroyed 70 percent of its ability to create steel, which is used as the raw material for the weapons used against us ... Today we attacked their petrochemical factories,” Netanyahu said.

“These two things are their money machine, which funds their war of terror against us and against the world ... We will continue to hit them, as I promised,” he added.

The United States is deploying most of its inventory of stealthy JASSM-ER long-range cruise missiles for operations against Iran, Bloomberg reported, citing a person with direct knowledge of the matter.

The missiles are being drawn from stockpiles in the Pacific and other locations, including the continental United States, and moved to US Central Command bases and Fairford in the United Kingdom, the report said.

The order to pull the weapons, which cost about $1.5 million each, was issued at the end of March, according to the report.

Sixty percent of the B-1 highway bridge in Karaj was damaged, with six of its seven support piers seriously hit after it was targeted in an 'enemy' strike on Thursday, Iranian media quoted the executive director of the Karaj northern bypass project as saying.

US Senator Lindsey Graham said he supports President Donald Trump’s ultimatum for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz and agree to a peace deal, warning of a “massive military operation” if it does not comply.

“I totally support his ultimatum to the Iranian regime to open up the Strait of Hormuz and to do a peace deal,” Graham said in a post on X.

“A massive military operation awaits Iran if they choose poorly,” he added.

Graham said he was “completely convinced” after speaking with Trump on Saturday morning that the US president would use “overwhelming military force” if Iran continues to impede the Strait and refuses a diplomatic solution.

President Donald Trump decided to use military force to stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon after diplomacy failed, the Wall Street Journal’s editorial board wrote in an opinion piece, arguing Washington’s experience with North Korea suggests the alternatives were even riskier.

“Diplomacy failed to stop Pyongyang from getting the bomb. Trump didn’t make the same mistake,” the editorial said.

It said negotiations, sanctions and agreements failed to prevent North Korea from becoming a nuclear power.

The editorial said similar diplomatic efforts were pursued with Iran, arguing they left nuclear infrastructure intact while Tehran continued its program.

“Donald Trump is the only President who had the courage to attack Iran’s nuclear program and allow Israel to do so,” it said.