Netanyahu warns Israel may have to face Iran without US backing - i24News

Israeli Air Force planes were on runways making final preparations for a third round of strikes against Iran on Monday morning before the White House intervened, Al-Monitor reported, citing diplomatic sources.

The report said the planned operation was expected to be more significant than two earlier strikes carried out at 3 a.m. and 7 a.m. local time in Tel Aviv.

Following a call from President Donald Trump, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and Air Force Commander Maj. Gen. Omer Tishler that Israel could not undermine Trump's efforts to secure a deal with Iran, according to the sources.

"We're on the same page," Netanyahu was quoted as saying. "Let's give him a chance."

Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Iran preferred diplomacy but suggested it could turn to a more forceful response if commitments were broken, in a message apparently directed at the United States.

"We prefer the language of diplomacy, but we speak other languages far more fluently," Ghalibaf wrote on X. "Break your commitments, and we'll switch to what we speak best. You ride the horse you saddled!"

US President Donald Trump said Iran shot down a US Apache helicopter while it was patrolling over the Strait of Hormuz, adding that the United States would respond to the attack.

"I have just been informed by our Great Military that last night the Iranians shot down one of our highly sophisticated Apache Helicopters while patrolling over the Strait of Hormuz," Trump wrote on Truth Social.

"There were two pilots involved, both are safe and uninjured. Nevertheless, the United States must, of necessity, respond to this attack," he added.

The Strait of Hormuz remains highly volatile and safe passage cannot be considered to exist without reliable security assurances, International Maritime Organization Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez said.

"I am increasingly concerned by reports that vessels continue to attempt to transit the Strait of Hormuz without any credible security guarantees, despite well-established risks and the fact that seafarers have already been killed, injured and others detained in recent incidents," Dominguez said in a statement on Tuesday.

"No commercial or operational consideration can justify exposing seafarers to such levels of danger," he added.

Britain said on Tuesday that a new law to crack down on proxies acting for hostile states such as Iran is expected to come into force next month.

The law would target state-linked organizations accused of paying criminal groups or low-level offenders to carry out activities such as surveillance and sabotage.

The legislation would make it illegal to express support for designated proxies or take money from them, with prison terms of up to 14 years.

"Where foreign states are found to be engaging in activity that threatens lives or undermines our democratic institutions, we must ensure that such actions have consequences," Prime Minister Keir Starmer said. "We will not tolerate hostile actors paying petty criminals to do their dirty work."

Britain has accused China and Russia, as well as Iran, of using proxies.

MI5 has warned that state-threat investigations rose 35% last year, including 20 potentially lethal Iranian-backed plots.

Many British lawmakers have called for Iran's Revolutionary Guards to be banned, but there was no indication whether the force would be included under the new legislation.