Puppet Masters

Israel launches fresh strikes on Iran as Trump calls for de-escalation

Rebeka Zeljko
The Blaze
Mon, 23 Mar 2026 21:44 UTC

'We will see where they lead.'

While President Donald Trump tries to navigate high-stakes peace talks with Iran, Israel appears to have gone rogue.

Trump announced Monday morning that he would temporarily postpone strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure while the two powers continue peace talks. Trump categorized the negotiations as productive, saying they were a "great start for Iran to build itself back."

"We have had very, very strong talks," Trump said. "We will see where they lead."

Trump also said the negotiations would positively impact countries in the region, including Israel. Despite Trump's attempts to find an off-ramp, Israel has continued conducting military ambitions in the region.

Mere minutes after Trump announced he ordered the Department of War to postpone strikes, Israel announced that it had launched a military campaign targeting Iran's infrastructure.

The Israeli Defense Forces confirmed they struck several "Iranian terror regime headquarters" in Tehran as well as key military manufacturing facilities.

A senior Israeli official told Axios that they were aware of mediation efforts by several countries but that they were surprised by Trump's remarks Monday, saying they "did not know things were moving that fast."

When reached for comment about whether Trump had foreknowledge of the strikes, the White House directed Blaze News to Trump's remarks to a press gaggle on Monday morning. The Department of War did not respond to a request for comment.

This is not the first time Israel has launched strikes while the United States was mediating peace talks.

Most recently, Israel struck Iranian power plants that prompted a series of retaliatory strikes that hit Qatari LNG gas fields last week. Trump took to Truth Social to claim that the United States had no foreknowledge of the Israeli strikes that led to military action against another American ally.

Additionally, Trump made Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologize to the Qatari prime minister in a trilateral phone call last September after Israel attacked Hamas leadership in Qatar, threatening ongoing peace talks.

Trump similarly claimed that Netanyahu approved the strikes without American foreknowledge, criticizing Israel for "unilaterally bombing inside Qatar, a Sovereign Nation and close Ally of the United States, that is working very hard and bravely taking risks with us to broker Peace."

Comment: Iran has made a qualified denial of any talks, and says that Trump's announcements are for calming the oil market.

In the meantime, Israel has made it clear it has slipped the leash.

Rebeka Zeljko

Rebeka Zejko is a contributing writer for The Daily Caller. She has also published pieces in The Daily Signal, The Western Journal, The Federalist, BizPac Review, and other outlets.

Reader Comments

ReRan · 2026-03-24T22:35:13Z

"While President Donald Trump tries to navigate high-stakes peace talks with Iran, Israel appears to have gone rogue."

No, Israel has not gone rogue. That is what they do. Trump answers to them, not the other way around.

Trump's announcement had more to do with oil stocks than any real talks. The markets were incredibly busy in the 15 minutes before his announcement.

Good Optics · 2026-03-24T22:53:58Z

Trump is so monumentally fill of shit it has to travel with him as excess baggage.

ReRan ·

Good Optics

· 2026-03-24T23:28:11Z

LuiBunting · 2026-03-25T04:38:20Z

The US is in the business of controlling resources and charging fees for access. It's business as usual, just a new front developing.

codis · 2026-03-25T06:25:33Z

Trump announced Monday morning that he would temporarily postpone strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure while the two powers continue peace talks. Trump categorized the negotiations as productive, saying they were a "great start for Iran to build itself back."

A straightfaced and blatant lie. There are no negotiations.

All Trump does is procrastinate until the marines arrive on the scene this Friday, and appease his furious MAGA base.

The Iranians on the other hand announced they will hit energy facilities in Israel and the Gulf state, as a response to strikes on their own ones. Which is now surely bound to happen, as Trump and the Israelis coordinate their actions. And which will crank up the pressure on the Gulf monarchies a few notches which are already highly distressed.

Ulrik · 2026-03-25T07:36:24Z

Where do the Israeli jets start from? I thought that all air bases in Israel have already been decimated!!!

codis · 2026-03-25T08:33:11Z

Ulrik As I have heard from usually reliable sources, from US or British bases 2000 or more kilometers away (like Akrotiri in Cyprus).

Which requires at least two refuels for each mission and each plane.

US bases in formerly "friendly" Gulf states like Iraq, Jordan or Saudi Arabia are not only in reach of Iranian missiles, but increasingly become target of domestic attacks. Especially Iraq lately.

codis · 2026-03-25T08:35:16Z

codis Which, by the way, exposes Trump's lie.

The Zionazis cannot use US or Nato bases without explicit permission and support by the Pentagon.

Ulrik · 2026-03-25T10:57:31Z

codis I hope Iran has missiles with a range 3'000-4'000 km! If Europe is allowing Israel to use their air bases for attacks on Iran, then be prepared that they (incl. personnel) will be destroyed! I wonder whether Russia would be so nice as to "lend" some Oreshniks to Iran for some testing purposes

codis · 2026-03-25T12:53:09Z

Ulrik

I hope Iran has missiles with a range 3'000-4'000 km! If Europe is allowing Israel to use their air bases for attacks on Iran, then be prepared that they (incl. personnel) will be destroyed!

In fact, they had attacked Diego Garcia a few days ago. Although only with two missiles, and one of those allegedly fell into the sea near the target. The second one was first claimed to be shot down, which was later "corrected" to be "shot at". Information about possible damage is fully censored, but it was a demonstration of their capabilities. Diego Garcia is more than 4000km away from Iran. About the same distance ans London, and shorter than to Paris, Berlin or Rome. Consequently, the Brits confirmed their announcements to keep out of the conflict, at least openly. But allowing the enemy (the US) to use their facilities - like Akrotiri - makes them a party to the war. Like the storm shadow missiles makes them a party in the Ukraine conflict.

On a related note, one cannot be sure how advanced these Iranian medium range missiles are, and how many they have. A poker game from both sides.

I wonder whether Russia would be so nice as to "lend" some Oreshniks to Iran for some testing purposes

I understand this is somewhat tongue-in-cheeck, but the Russian will never let the Iran fall. They understand this is the very purpose of this war, damaging China and Russia. Thus I see a non-zero possibility of Israel being taken out by Russian missiles of they cross certain lines.

Ulrik · 2026-03-25T13:14:51Z

codis So far (as I know) Iran has denied attacking Diego Garcia! Who exactly attacked and whether there was an attack at all (false flag) that's the question. As for Russia, I don't understand (what is normal for a "low-level worker drone") what exactly moves Mr. Putin, why he is so indecisive in solving the problems, allowing others to cross Russia's "red lines" is quite a hobby for Mr. Putin. I wouldn't bet at all on him helping Iran till the bitter end!!! As I said before I don't understand the logic behind his actions - even now after all these years, Russia still does business with USA, selling americans everything they need (!?) and everything that the America doesn't need, they sanction brutally, hindering the Russian businesses as much as they can!? So I don't think that as long as Putin is a president they will help Iran till the end.

codis · 2026-03-25T14:03:35Z

Ulrik

... what exactly moves Mr. Putin, why he is so indecisive in solving the problems, allowing others to cross Russia's "red lines" is quite a hobby for Mr. Putin.

There are too many assumptions in this statements. Unlike purported by the West, Russia is not a autocratic dictatorship under the total control of Putin. First, I think they are far more "technocratic" than the West. Their government is mostly populated by technical experts, not "political science" graduates or lawyers. Decisions are made by this technocratic body, not the president, although he has the final say. But the opposite (like Trump starting wars by his own volition) are not accepted in Russia. This might change over the decades, in case corruption creeps in again. But the Russian state had a "spring cleaning" event more than two decades ago, beginning exactly this process and keeping Russia from falling apart.

As for "red lines", they obviously did and do the long game. Instead of forcing the Ukraine conflict they recognized the structural weakness of the West, and decided to slow-walk the conflict to drain the military and industrial resources of the West. The embarrassing performance of Israel and the US in Iran is one of the consequences. The abstention of the Europeans from both the Ukraine and Iran conflict, and their economical obvious breakdown, is another consequence.

What looms in the background is a nuclear war. Perhaps Netanjahu, the Bruessels autocrats and some US chicken hawks want it . and their shady backers.

So I don't think that as long as Putin is a president they will help Iran till the end.

I think he will. Not for altruistic motives, but their whole planned economic model in Asia depends on it, especially the land transportation routes to the south and south-east Asia.

Ulrik · 2026-03-25T14:31:15Z

codis We'll see, what else can a single human do against the politics of state apparatus...

codis · 2026-03-25T14:54:58Z

Ulrik Not trust the government, and rely on your own intuition and experience. And understand that the majority of the population is helplessly dependant on the state, and cannot be trusted in critical matters.

This increases your chances of survival drastically - just remember that thing 5 years ago ...

Peter Jennings · 2026-03-26T10:19:36Z

The carrot and stick approach no longer works on Iran. Now it's just down to sticks and Iran has more of them. The logistics of running a worldwide empire has bankrupted america after just 80 years. It's probably just as well for the USadmin that wars are fought using credit.

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Puppet Masters

Israel launches fresh strikes on Iran as Trump calls for de-escalation

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