Israel-Iran conflict: War or peace? What does Trump's 'real end' mean?

(RNS, 17-06-25) Donald Trump wants a 'real end' to the war, not a ceasefire, he says. Is it a dire threat from the US President that he will be dropping the nuclear-bunker destroying bombs from the dreaded B-2 bombers on Iran?

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Or is it high-stakes brinkmanship with an eye on getting the peace deal done?

These are the questions floating around as the Israel-Iran war escalates and in a hugely worrying manner.

Interestingly, the development comes at a time when CNN is reporting that US intelligence believed that Iran was at least three years away from a nuclear bomb.

This revelation shoots Israel's rationale to initiate the attack to shreds. And also throws a big question mark over Trump's decision to let Netanyahu bomb Tehran.

Trump's latest statements from Air Force One came after he had warned people in Tehran to evacuate, once again inserting himself into a conflict he has no real part in.

In a post on Truth Social—now his official platform for presidential announcements—Trump had said, in his signature all caps, "IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON." This is a phrase that leaps at you again and again if you scroll through his feed.

Trump has posted "IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON" so many times that it reads like a mantra he is obsessed with.