‘Unconditional Surrender’
Israel says it struck more Iranian nuclear sites Wednesday morning. The Israeli military has said that 50 of its warplanes struck targets across the Iranian capital of Tehran, including factories that assemble nuclear centrifuges and missiles. Iran responded by launching missiles and drones at Israel, most of which Israel said were intercepted.
These latest actions follow U.S. President Donald Trump saying in a Truth Social post on Tuesday that Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was “an easy target” but that “we are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now.” In a separate post, the president appeared to call for Iran’s “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!”
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 17, 2025
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 17, 2025
Khamenei, unsurprisingly, declined to surrender. In his own string of threatening posts on X, the Iranian leader said that the U.S. would suffer “irreparable” harm if it entered the war.
The harm the US will suffer will definitely be irreparable if they enter this conflict militarily.
— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) June 18, 2025
In another post, Khamenei said Iran’s “suspicion” that the U.S. was already supporting Israeli strikes was “growing stronger day by day.”
It was already suspected that the US was involved in the malicious move carried out by the Zionist regime, but considering their recent remarks, this suspicion is growing stronger day by day.
— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) June 18, 2025
On Tuesday evening, Trump spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the phone after meeting with his national security team. Three administration officials told Axios ahead of that meeting that the president was seriously considering entering the war and launching U.S. attacks on Iranian nuclear sites.
Trump administration officials have offered equivocal comments on whether the U.S. will enter Israel’s war with Iran and what U.S. goals in such a war might be.
In a Tuesday briefing, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce declined to directly answer reporters’ questions about whether Trump sought regime change in Iran, saying instead that it was a “dynamic” situation and Trump wanted a “durable end” to forever wars.
Vice President J.D. Vance struck a similarly muddled note in a long X post in which he said that “the president has shown remarkable restrain
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