White House initiates efforts for meeting with Iranian officials

US President Donald Trump has reportedly instructed the White House administration to arrange a meeting with Iranian officials.

According to Axios News, efforts are underway to organise a meeting between the Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and the US envoy Steve Witkoff in a bid to de-escalate the growing crisis.

Meanwhile, Trump has called an emergency meeting of the National Security Council. He is expected to cut short his visit to Canada in order to personally chair the meeting, which will be held in the White House Situation Room.

Late Monday, Iran launched a series of missile attacks on Israel, targeting Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories. According to Israeli media reports, these attacks struck military intelligence centers, leading to a complete halt in production at the Haifa refinery and the deaths of three employees.

These Iranian attacks were launched in retaliation for Israel's earlier assault on Iran's state television during a live broadcast, which killed two media personnel. The news anchor, who was on air at the time, narrowly avoided injury.

According to official data, the Israeli attacks on Iran killed 220 people, 70 of whom were women and children, while Iran has killed more than 20 people in retaliatory attacks.