Washington (AFP) – President Donald Trump on Tuesday demanded “unconditional surrender” from Tehran and warned that the United States could easily assassinate its supreme leader as Iran and US ally Israel traded devastating fire for a fifth day. The comments fueled questions over whether Washington will join Israel’s attacks after insisting it had no hand in the campaign.
Israeli warplanes targeted drone and missile sites with at least two waves of strikes in western Iran on Tuesday, the military said. It also reported that it had killed senior Iranian commander Ali Shadmani in an overnight strike on a “command centre in the heart of Tehran,” just four days after his predecessor, Gholam Ali Rashid, was killed in Israel’s initial surprise attack. The new attacks drew retaliatory fire from the Islamic Republic, with explosions heard over Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and air raid sirens sounding around Dimona, a southern town home to a nuclear power plant. There were no immediate reports of hits.
Days after a senior US official said Trump had told Israel to back down from plans to assassinate top leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the US president appeared to reverse course. “We know exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding. He is an easy target, but is safe there — We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform. Warning Iran against targeting US interests, he also posted: “But we don’t want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers. Our patience is wearing thin,” he added, later posting a message saying: “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!”
Trump and his National Security Council met on Tuesday to discuss the conflict, ending after an hour and 20 minutes with no immediate public statement.
Despite international alarm, neither side has backed off from the long-range blitz that began Friday, when Israel launched an unprecedented bombing campaign targeting Iranian nuclear and military facilities. Iranian media reported several explosions Tuesday in the central city of Isfahan, home to nuclear facilities. Blasts were also heard across Tehran. The Iranian armed forces warned residents in the Israeli cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa to evacuate “for the sake of their lives,” warning of “punitive operations” to come. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had launched an attack targeting Israeli air bases.
Residential areas in both countries have suffered deadly strikes since the fighting broke out, and foreign governments have scrambled to evacuate their citizens. A cyberattack on Tuesday crippled Sepah Bank, one of Iran’s main state-owned banks, the Fars news agency reported. Fearing the violence, many residents have fled Tehran. On Tuesday, long queues stretched outside bakeries and petrol stations as the remaining residents rushed to stock up on fuel and basic supplies.
Trump late Monday warned on social media that the entire population of Tehran should evacuate “immediately,” without offering any explanation. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the United States was deploying “additional capabilities” to the Middle East, with a US aircraft carrier reportedly heading to the region. China accused Trump of “pouring oil” on the conflict, while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu of being “the biggest threat to the security of the region.”
After decades of enmity and a prolonged shadow war, Israel said its surprise air campaign was aimed at preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons — an ambition Tehran denies. The UN’s nuclear watchdog said there appeared to have been “direct impacts on the underground enrichment halls” at Iran’s Natanz facility. Israel has maintained ambiguity regarding its own atomic activities, but the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) says it has 90 nuclear warheads.
The conflict derailed a running series of nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington, with Iran saying after the start of Israel’s campaign that it would not negotiate with the United States while under attack. French President Emmanuel Macron said Trump had a critical role in restarting diplomacy with Tehran and that attempts at regime change would bring “chaos.” Since Friday, at least 24 people have been killed in Israel and hundreds wounded, according to Netanyahu’s office. Iran said on Sunday that Israeli strikes had killed at least 224 people, including military commanders, nuclear scientists, and civilians. It has not issued an updated toll since then.
© 2024 AFP
