JERUSALEM, Israel – As residents of Jerusalem mark the second day of Purim, recalling the biblical story of how the Jewish people were delivered from an evil Persian official in the Book of Esther, the modern conflict with Iran appears to be intensifying.
Israel and the United States continue to target Iranian military and terror infrastructure as the war expands across the region. Iran’s proxy Hezbollah has formally entered the fight, opening another front against Israel.
Israeli forces “flattened” a building in Tehran where Iran’s 88-member Assembly of Experts reportedly had gathered to select the country’s next supreme leader on Tuesday. Iran says the building was empty and the council met virtually. The strike comes after Iran’s longtime supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei and other top Iranian leaders were killed on the first day of the war.
CENTCOM announced there are more than 50,000 American troops deployed in the region.
Tuesday, President Trump said Israel did not push the United States into the war with Iran.
“We were having negotiations with these lunatics and it was my opinion that they were going to attack first. They were going to attack if we didn’t do it,” Trump declared.
Trump said his negotiators are great but with the way talks were going he didn’t want Iran to attack first.
“If anything I might have forced Israel’s hand but Israel was ready and we were ready and we’ve had a very, very powerful impact because virtually everything they have has been knocked out now.” Trump emphasized.
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