Donald Trump has claimed that Israel and the wider Middle East "would be gone" if he were not US President, defending his administration's continued military action against Iran. He made the remarks to Fox News on the same night that US and Iranian forces exchanged fresh attacks, marking an escalation after weeks of relative calm in the six-month conflict, and as he continues to insist that Tehran must never be allowed to acquire a nuclear weapon.

Trump argued that Iran's strikes on neutral Gulf states such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait had cost it regional support, but warned that had Iran possessed a nuclear weapon it likely would have used it. His comments came alongside remarks from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who ruled out any diplomatic deal with Iran and vowed a devastating response to any attack, and from Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who urged Muslim nations to confront the US and Israel as common enemies. Trump also reiterated that he is "not in a hurry" to resume negotiations, saying Iran's leadership is under severe economic and military strain following his declared "economic D-Day" campaign against the country.