US President Donald Trump has said Washington is attacking Iran to protect Israel, the broader Middle East and what he described as the Western world, according to Middle East Eye.
Trump presented the US action as serving several connected security objectives. He said the attacks were intended not only to assist Israel but also to support the Middle East and protect the United States itself.
“We're doing it to help the Middle East. We're doing it to help Israel. We're doing it to help ourselves because after they annihilate Israel, which they would have done very gladly, and then the Middle East, then they come after Europe and they come after some of our cities,” Trump said.
His comments framed the attacks on Iran as a response to a threat that he said extended beyond Israel. Trump argued that Iran would first have targeted Israel, before turning to the wider Middle East and later threatening Europe and cities in the United States.
The president’s statement linked Washington’s military action directly to the defence of Israel while also portraying it as necessary for regional and Western security. He did not limit his stated rationale to a single country, instead saying the operation was meant to help the Middle East as a whole as well as the US.
Trump’s remarks, as reported by Middle East Eye, did not include further details about the attacks, their locations, timing or scope. The supplied report also did not provide information about damage, casualties or Iran’s response.
The comments nevertheless set out the US president’s public justification for Washington’s action: that striking Iran would protect Israel and prevent what he described as a wider sequence of threats against the Middle East, Europe and American cities.
Reporting attribution: based on reporting by Middle East Eye — original source: https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/trump-says-hits-iran-help-israel-middle-east-and-europe.