No surrender: Iran warns US of irreparable damage if it joins war
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rejected Donald Trump’s demand for unconditional surrender on Wednesday, and the US president said his patience had run out, though he gave no clue as to what his next step would be.
Speaking to reporters outside the White House, Trump declined to say whether he had made any decision on whether to join Israel’s bombing campaign against arch-enemy Iran.
“I may do it. I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do,” he said.
Trump said Iranian officials had reached out about negotiations including a possible meeting at the White House but “it’s very late to be talking,” he said.
“Unconditional surrender, that means I’ve had it.” Asked for his response to Khamenei rejecting his demand to surrender, Trump said: “I say, good luck.” Iranians jammed the highways out of the capital Tehran, fleeing from intensified Israeli airstrikes.
In its latest bombing run, Israel said its air force had destroyed Iran’s police headquarters.
Khamenei, 86, rebuked Trump in a recorded speech played on television, his first appearance since Friday.
The Americans “should know that any US military intervention will undoubtedly be accompanied by irreparable damage,” he said.
Trump has veered from proposing a swift diplomatic end to the five-day-old war to suggesting the United States might join it. In social media posts on Tuesday, he mused about killing Khamenei. A source familiar with internal discussions said Trump and his team were considering options that included joining Israel in strikes against Iranian nuclear installations.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told a Senate committee that the Pentagon was prepared to execute any order given by Trump.
Tel Aviv short of interceptors: WSJ
As Iran claimed that it had fired what it said were hypersonic “Fattah 1” missiles at Israel, Tel Aviv is running low on defensive “Arrow” missile interceptors, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing an unnamed US official, raising concerns about the country’s ability to counter long-range ballistic missiles from Iran over the coming days.
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