Trump demands ‘unconditional surrender’ of Iran
Israel has carried out strikes across Iran while Tehran has returned fire with missiles as the foes have traded attacks for a fifth straight day and the region anxiously braces for a potentially wider and ruinous conflict.
The violence on Tuesday came after United States President Donald Trump struck an ominous note, calling for the immediate evacuation of Tehran. He followed that up hours later with comments to reporters on Air Force One after his early departure from the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Canada, saying he is looking for a “real end” and not just a ceasefire in the conflict.
On Tuesday, Trump wrote several times on his Truth Social app. In one post, he said, “We now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran,” without clarifying who the “we” was. Israel made the initial claim about controlling Iranian skies in recent days, without providing evidence.
Iran still has air defence systems operating. Its army said on Tuesday that it had tracked and intercepted 28 “hostile aircraft” in 24 hours. It said one of them was a spy drone trying to gain intelligence on “sensitive” sites.
Trump also made a thinly veiled threat in a post directed at Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, saying the US knows where he is hiding but doesn’t want him killed “for now”, adding the words “unconditional surrender”.
In a post on Truth Social, the US president in appeared to demand Iran’s “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!” amid its conflict with Israel. Trump’s statement has sparked questions about whether US will join its ally Israel in targeting Tehran’s leadership and nuclear facilities.
The Israeli military reported on Tuesday that it carried out “several extensive strikes” on what it said were missile sites and other military targets in western Iran, striking dozens of missile and drone facilities. Footage verified by Al Jazeera showed large plumes of smoke rising from several areas in Iran’s Isfahan province. Throughout the day and into the evening, the official Iranian news agency IRNA reported that “continuous and intense” explosions were being heard in densely populated neighbourhoods of the capital, Tehran.
Iranian media also reported that loud explosions were heard in the northwestern city of Tabriz, home to an air force base that Israel has repeatedly targeted since it launched a surprise assault on Iran’s military and nuclear facilities on Friday.
Three people were killed and four injured in strikes on the central city of Kashan, Iran’s state-run Nour News reported.
A residential building was struck in Tehran, and three people were rescued from the rubble, the reports added.
IRNA said eight missiles were launched at Israel in Iran’s latest salvo. Israel’s military confirmed Iran had fired more missiles, saying “most” of the missiles had been intercepted, without providing details.
Explosions were heard over Tel Aviv and Jerusalem among other areas. Images showed plumes of dark smoke rising from the site of a strike in Herzliya as emergency services were deployed at the scene.
Israel’s national emergency service said 10 people were injured while running to shelters after air raid sirens sounded in Tel Aviv.
Al Jazeera’s reporter added that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said in a recent statement that it targeted the “intelligence buildings in Herzliya – the Mossad and the Israeli (Aman) military intelligence – so that claim remains unanswered from the Israeli side”.
Iran’s Defence Ministry on Tuesday said that it used a new, undetectable missile in striking an Israeli intelligence facility, claiming the attack penetrated multiple layers of air defences.