Trump says wants 'real end' to Israel - Iran conflict, not ceasefire - video Dailymotion

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00:00Israel says it's killed Iran's most senior military commander and close aide to its supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

00:07The military says wartime chief of staff Ali Shadmani died in an airstrike in central Tehran following, quote, precise intelligence.

00:15It's the second time in five days that Israel says it's killed the person occupying the post.

00:20And it comes as Israel also broadens strikes on its arch foe.

00:24On Monday, Israel ordered about 300,000 people in Tehran to evacuate ahead of airstrikes.

00:30Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump wrote on social media that everyone in Tehran should evacuate.

00:36The city counts some 10 million inhabitants or 17 million in the greater metropolitan area.

00:43Well, for more on this story, I'm joined by our international affairs editor, Angela Diffley.

00:48Angela, Donald Trump, we've actually just heard from him.

00:50And he's on his way back to Washington after cutting his trip to the G7 summit in Canada short.

00:56He said that he was looking for a real end to this conflict, not a ceasefire.

01:01Any clues as to what he meant by that?

01:03Well, you know, Trump always has this tactical ambiguity thing where he doesn't give too much away.

01:10He likes the surprise element or maybe he doesn't really know what he wants some of the time, hasn't quite made a decision.

01:15So, no, I don't know what he means.

01:16You know, there are three options, really.

01:21It appears, I think, probably too early to talk for a ceasefire from the American point of view.

01:29Whatever about whether Donald Trump wanted this war in the beginning,

01:33it is possible that the United States and very many other countries in the region and elsewhere

01:39are quietly satisfied at the work Israel is doing and would like it perhaps to go a little further

01:46before there is any talk of ceasefire.

01:49We will see.

01:50But from what he said, saying, you know, it's nothing to do with the ceasefire,

01:53it is possible that that is the thinking.

01:55The other alternatives, of course, are, you know, will the United States get involved and will things escalate?

02:00Will they lend Israel their bunker busters, which can or use their bunker busters,

02:08which can reach those nuclear facilities which are deep, deep underground, under a mountain in the case of the Fordow one?

02:17And the Israelis cannot do that on their own.

02:19Are the Americans thinking of helping in other ways?

02:21We know they've already helped in terms of Israeli defences.

02:25The third issue, of course, is this question of eliminating Khamenei.

02:30We were told that Trump vetoed the idea in a phone call with Netanyahu.

02:38We don't know if that's true or not.

02:42But it's true that Trump is, any decision he makes, he will be thinking about two key things.

02:50Israel, whatever the relationship, is a very key ally of the United States.

02:54But Trump's MAGA base do not like foreign interventions, do not like getting involved in foreign wars.

03:02And it's all about domestic policy.

03:04So he will be thinking about those two issues.

03:08You mentioned Khamenei there, Israel, of course, not ruling out efforts to potentially kill him.

03:14Is regime change in Iran what Israel wants out of all of this?

03:17Or is it simply wiping out its nuclear program?

03:20Well, you know, Netanyahu said they did not rule out removing Khamenei.

03:25In a sense, that doesn't mean anything.

03:27In a war, you do not publicly rule out anything.

03:31It doesn't say we intend to target him.

03:35It doesn't say very much in reality.

03:38Their stated aims are that they would like to destroy Iran's nuclear capability

03:44and its ballistic missiles, which are a real worry to Israel because, you know,

03:51there's, what, a thousand kilometers or so between Iran and Israel.

03:54Those ballistic missiles that can, as we've seen, do damage, even though they have their Iron Dome

03:59and even though many Israelis have air raid shelters under their homes.

04:03So the Israelis really do want that achieved.

04:05In terms of regime change, he has said quite clearly that would be a result, perhaps.

04:11It is perhaps the hope of the Israelis that when they have done the damage they want to,

04:17the Iranians themselves might somehow get rid of Khamenei.

04:22Although the Israelis would probably like to see him gone,

04:25everyone is fully aware that that sort of operation, when it's imposed from the outside,

04:30rarely works.

04:31Let's look at Iraq, where Saddam Hussein was deposed.

04:36It was not followed by an orderly transition to a peaceful democracy.

04:41It's a very messy business.

04:43You know, would Israel's interest be best served by Khamenei remaining there

04:48or some sort of ensuing chaos?

04:51Ideally, the Israelis would no doubt say, with Khamenei gone and a successful democracy nearby.

Trump says wants 'real end' to Israel - Iran conflict, not ceasefire

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