President Cyril Ramaphosa and the South African government have expressed deep concern over the United States' entry into the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran.

In a statement on Sunday, The Presidency said government has noted the US's entry into the war with "a great deal of anxiety".

This comes after the United States dropped bunker buster bombs and launched Tomahawk missiles on Iranian nuclear sites on Saturday night.

In a post on Truth Social and on social media platform X, Trump said: "We have completed our very successful attack on the three nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan. All planes are now outside of Iran air space. A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow. All planes are safely on their way home."

The Presidency said: "It was South Africa's sincerest hope that President Donald Trump would use his influence and that of the US government to prevail on the parties to pursue a dialogue path in resolving their issues of dispute.

"South Africa calls on the United States, Israel, and Iran to give the United Nations the opportunity and space to lead on the peaceful resolution of the matters of dispute, including the inspection and verification of Iran's status of uranium enrichment, as well as its broader nuclear capacity."

The US attacks come just over a week after Israel launched missiles at Iran and Tehran hit back by striking targets in Israel. - SAnews.gov.za