Israel-Iran conflict live updates: Trump addresses US attack on Iran at The Hague

He’s already the world’s most powerful man, but US President Donald Trump now has a new nickname from NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte – the “Daddy”.

NATO’s Secretary General Mark Rutte has offered a unique description of US President Donald Trump’s handling of the Middle East crisis.

Mr Trump compared the fighting between Israel and Iran to “two kids in a school yard” when Mr Rutte chimed in with his own analogy during their talks ahead of the NATO summit earlier on Wednesday.

“Then daddy has to sometimes use strong language,” he said, referring to Mr Trump’s expletive-laced outburst a day prior at the prospect of the Iran-Israel ceasefire breaking down.

Mr Trump - AKA “daddy” - added that “you have to use strong language”.

Earlier, Mr Trump fired off at Israel and Iran as a fragile ceasefire in the Middle East took hold after 12 days of strikes that pummelled the Islamic republic’s nuclear facilities.

Iran said on Tuesday it was ready to return to negotiations with the US, but Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country would continue to “assert its legitimate rights” to the peaceful use of atomic power.

The head of Israel’s military said Tuesday that its strikes had set back Iran’s nuclear program “by years” and the campaign against the country was now “entering a new phase”.

“We have concluded a significant phase, but the campaign against Iran is not over. We are entering a new phase based on the achievements of the current one,” Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir said in a statement.

“We’ve set Iran’s nuclear project back by years, and the same applies to its missile program.”

Israel said earlier Tuesday that it had removed the “dual existential threat” of Iran’s nuclear program and missiles.

Israel has said its war, which began on June 13, was aimed at preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, an ambition Tehran has long denied holding.

After Mr Trump angrily berated both sides for early violations of the truce on Tuesday, Tehran announced it would respect the terms of the deal if Israel did the same, while Israel said it had refrained from further strikes.

Both Israel and Iran appeared to claim victory following the announcement of the truce.

Originally published as Israel-Iran conflict live updates: Trump addresses US attack on Iran at The Hague