Israel’s attack on Iran was long in the making – the result of years of meticulous planning by Israel and days of high-stakes talks between Tel Aviv and Washington, officials told CNN.

By Jeff Mason, Francois Murphy and Parisa Hafezi WASHINGTON/VIENNA/DUBAI (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that an Israeli strike on Iran "could very well happen" but he would not call it imminent and prefers to avoid conflict with Tehran and reach a peaceful solution over its nuclear program.

Iran launched three retaliatory waves of missiles at targets in Israel on June 13, as Israelis rode out the attacks in bomb shelters and world leaders discussed the deepening conflict. Plumes of smoke rose over central Tel Aviv and at least one building was hit and set ablaze.