Israeli ambassador warns of ‘surprises up our sleeves’ in fight against Iran, in line with Trump’s ominous message

( NYPost )

The Israeli ambassador to the US has cautioned there are still “surprises up our sleeves” in the fight against Iran — as President Trump issued his own ominous warning that Israel wouldn’t be slowing its attacks anytime soon.

“Expect a surprise later this week,” Yechiel Leiter told Merit TV on Monday.

“Let’s just say the world will understand how serious we are about stopping Iran’s capabilities — and not just in Gaza or southern Lebanon.”

The envoy didn’t elaborate on the plans but noted it would likely make the Israeli’s infamous move to detonate thousands of Hezbollah pagers in Lebanon late last year “look simple.”

“There’s still a lot of things we can do,” Leiter said.

“We’ve pulled off a number of surprises. When the dust settles, you’re going to see some surprises on Thursday night and Friday, that will make the beeper operation almost seem simple.”

Leiter added that Trump wasn’t putting pressure on the Jewish state to curb the fighting.

It came as Trump echoed the warning and urged “everyone to evacuate” Tehran late Monday as Israel appeared to expand its air assault.

“You’re going to find out over the next two days,” Trump said early Tuesday aboard Air Force One when asked if Israel would halt its onslaught.

“You’re going to find out. Nobody’s slowed up so far.”

Trump warned Iran against targeting US troops in the Middle East, saying: “We’ll come down so hard if they do anything to our people. We’ll come down so hard, Then the gloves are off… I think they know not to touch our troops.”

Trump confirmed reports that he was considering sending Vice President JD Vance and his presidential envoy Steve Witkoff to meet with Iranian officials to discuss an end to fighting — after Witkoff previously led nuclear talks with Tehran.

“I may, it depends on what happens when I get back,” the president said.

Trump said he wanted “a real end, not a cease-fire, an end” and suggested that Iran could resolve the fighting by “giving up entirely.”

When asked if powerful US bunker-busting bombs might be used by the American military to finish off the Iranian nuclear program, Trump said: “I hope their program is going to be wiped out long before that.”

Trump said he thought that Iran was “very close” to developing a nuclear weapon before Israel attacked late last week.

“I told them to ‘do the deal’. They should have done the deal. Their cities have been blown to pieces, they’ve lost a lot of people,” Trump said.

“I’m not too much in a mood to negotiate.”

Trump said he urged people to evacuate Tehran because “I just want people to be safe” — downplaying speculation of potential US bombing on the horizon.

Vance, an internal administration skeptic of this year’s airstrikes on Iran-backed Houthi fighters in Yemen, tweeted Tuesday that Trump “has shown remarkable restraint in keeping our military’s focus on protecting our troops and protecting our citizens.”

“He may decide he needs to take further action to end Iranian enrichment. That decision ultimately belongs to the president. And of course, people are right to be worried about foreign entanglement after the last 25 years of idiotic foreign policy,” Vance wrote.

“But I believe the president has earned some trust on this issue. And having seen this up close and personal, I can assure you that he is only interested in using the American military to accomplish American people’s goals. Whatever he does, that is his focus.”