President Donald Trump will make a decision on whether the US will join Israel’s war on Iran “in the next two weeks”, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Thursday.
Iran will meanwhile hold talks with European powers on Friday in a first glimmer of peace hopes as its air war with Israel enters a second week.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will meet his counterparts from Britain, Germany, France and the EU in Geneva. French minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Tehran had signalled it was willing to negotiate "provided that a ceasefire can be achieved".
US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Mr Araghchi have spoken by phone several times since the air war began, diplomatic sources told Reuters. The White House signalled that Mr Trump had yet to decide whether to enter the war.
Quoting a message from Mr Trump, Ms Leavitt said: "Based on the fact that there's a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks."
Ms Leavitt added that Mr Trump was ''unafraid'' to use force if necessary.
Israel widened its attack on Iran's nuclear programme on a seventh day of strikes on Thursday. Fighter pilots hit a heavy water reactor in Arak to stop Iran using it to produce plutonium, the Israeli military said.
The factory has been a source of concern as it could provide Iran with an alternative to enriching uranium, and UN inspectors have little knowledge about its operations. The International Atomic Energy Agency said there were "no radiological effects".
The Israeli air force also hit an alleged "nuclear weapons development site" near Natanz. Israel walked back from claims it had also hit a functioning nuclear power plant along the Gulf coast.
An Iranian diplomat told Reuters that Bushehr was not hit and Israel was waging "psychological warfare" by discussing it. Any attack on the plant, near Arab neighbours and housing Russian technicians, is viewed as risking nuclear disaster.
Iran responded with a further wave of strikes. The southern Soroka hospital in Israel was heavily damaged in an apparent ballistic missile attack. The hospital has more than 1,000 beds and provides services to about one million residents of Israel’s south.
The National heard the sounds of missile interceptions and impacts for at least 10 minutes in Jerusalem. The fire service said there was a “direct hit” on a residential building in the Tel Aviv area.
Israel expressed outrage. Defence Minister Israel Katz said Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei "can no longer be allowed to exist", just days after reports that the US vetoed plans to assassinate him.
"Khamenei openly declares that he wants Israel destroyed – he personally gives the order to fire on hospitals," Mr Katz told journalists near Tel Aviv. "Such a man can no longer be allowed to exist."
Iran said it had caused only "superficial damage" to the hospital, claiming it had aimed at an Israeli intelligence site nearby. Mr Araghchi contrasted the strike with bombings of Gaza's medical facilities during Israel's invasion of the strip.
"It is the Israeli regime and not Iran that initiated all this bloodshed, and it is Israeli war criminals and not Iranians who are targeting hospitals and civilians," he said.
Israeli medics said dozens of people were injured across the country, including two seriously, in what appeared to be Iran's largest barrage since the war broke out.
The Israeli army accused Iran of targeting civilians. "This is exactly why we launched this operation. We cannot allow Iran to obtain nuclear weapons," said Israeli Brig Gen Effie Defrin.
Iran denies it is developing atomic weapons. Before Israel's attack it had held several rounds of indirect talks with the US on a possible nuclear deal, replacing a 2015 pact that was abandoned by Mr Trump during his first term. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu he would welcome "all help" with destroying Iran's nuclear sites.
Tehran on Thursday turned its anger on the head of the UN's nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi, who has repeatedly said he cannot be sure whether Iran's nuclear activities are peaceful. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baqaei said reports by Mr Grossi's IAEA were "absolutely biased".
"Misleading narratives have dire consequences, Mr Grossi, and demand accountability," he said. Mr Grossi retorted that his warnings "could never be conceived as a justification" for war.
No clear path to peace has emerged despite countries such as Oman and Russia being floated as mediators. However, Iran's Tasnim news agency said the planned meeting in Geneva "appears to be a promising sign of diplomatic efforts".
France's Mr Barrot said his country had a "willingness to resume negotiations, provided that these negotiations can lead to a lasting, substantial reversal by Iran of its nuclear programme, its ballistic missile programme and its regional destabilisation activities'.
A UK official said Foreign Secretary David Lammy was ready for talks to "press for a diplomatic solution". An agreement is needed “to address the nuclear issue for the long term”, they told The National. A spokesman for German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he had briefed Sheikh Tamim, Emir of Qatar, on the planned meetings.
Ali Larijani, an adviser to Iran's supreme leader, called for resistance against Israel's attacks to force it into negotiations. He said that "nobody is looking for a lengthy war", according to Iranian media.
Travel disruption continued around the Middle East. The war has forced the cancellation and delay of hundreds of flights at airports, leaving thousands of travellers stranded abroad.
“The situation is absolutely ridiculous,” Iraqi citizen Mujtaba told The National as he stood outside an Iraqi Airways office in Beirut waiting for a way home. "It's all a farce."
Shipping company Maersk said it would pause calling at the port of Haifa in Israel. It will continue to operate vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.
