US Senator says Israel's attacks on Iran compounds Trump's humiliation
Murphy also said Trump had 'lost control' of the conflict and criticised what he described as the president's 'gross incompetence'
US Senator Chris Murphy has accused Israel of undermining President Donald Trump by launching attacks on Iran despite the US president's calls for restraint, saying the developments have further damaged Trump's credibility and American influence, reports Al Jazeera.
In a post on X, Murphy said, "This war has been humiliating for Trump and American power generally. And when Trump announces he is going to call Netanyahu and tell him not to retaliate, and within hours Netanyahu retaliates, the humiliation just compounds."
Murphy also said Trump had "lost control" of the conflict and criticised what he described as the president's "gross incompetence".
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The comments came amid renewed tensions in the region after Israel said it had struck the Mahshahr petrochemical plant in southwestern Iran and targeted military sites elsewhere in the country.
The strikes followed an Iranian missile attack on Israel on Sunday, launched in retaliation for Israeli attacks on targets in Lebanon over the weekend. The Lebanese strikes were carried out despite Trump's reported efforts to persuade Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to refrain from military action, according to Axios.
The latest Israeli operation marked the first strike on an energy facility inside Iran since a ceasefire between the two countries took effect on 8 April.
The regional situation has been further complicated by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi movement, which pledged to block Israeli maritime navigation in the Red Sea. On Monday, the Israeli military said it had activated its aerial defence systems to intercept a missile launched by the Houthis, the first such attack since the ceasefire came into force
Hours before the latest escalation, Trump said fresh Israeli and Iranian strikes would not affect his administration's ongoing peace talks with Tehran.
The renewed exchange of attacks has raised concerns over the durability of the ceasefire and the prospects for a diplomatic resolution to the conflict, as tensions continue to simmer across the Middle East.
