Trump demands Iran's unconditional surrender, says won't kill Khamenei for now
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Trump says he wants 'real end' to nuclear problem with Iran
TEL AVIV/DUBAI (Reuters) – US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that "we now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran" despite the US forces having not announced direct engagement in the Israel-Iran war.
"Iran had good sky trackers and other defensive equipment, and plenty of it, but it doesn't compare to American made, conceived, and manufactured 'stuff.' Nobody does it better than the good ol' USA," Trump wrote in a social media post.
President Donald Trump said on Tuesday the US knew exactly where Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was "hiding", that he was an easy target but would not be killed, at least for now.
"We know exactly where the “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 in a post on Truth Social.
Just a few hours ago, Iran launched a new wave of attacks targeting Israel on Tuesday, state TV reported, as fighting between the longtime foes raged for a fifth straight day.
"The tenth wave of Operation Honest Promise 3 against the occupied territories (Israel) has begun," state TV said, with the Tasnim news agency reporting that the new barrage consisted of "drone and missile attacks" by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
"President Donald J. Trump has never wavered in his stance that Iran cannot be allowed to have a nuclear weapon — a pledge he has made repeatedly, both in office and on the campaign trail," the White House said in a statement posted online on Tuesday that highlighted the times the Republican president has made such comments.
An official White House X account shared a thread with past clips of Trump repeating similar statements on Iran's nuclear capabilities.
Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons and has pointed to its right to nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, including enrichment, as a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
“You cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon. You cannot let it happen because bad things will happen if that happens.” (6/24/23) pic.twitter.com/BFVxfxBWQh
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) June 17, 2025
TRUMP SAYS HE WANTS 'REAL END' TO NUCLEAR PROBLEM WITH IRAN
US President Donald Trump said he wanted a "real end" to the nuclear problem with Iran and indicated he may send senior American officials to meet with the Islamic Republic as the Israel-Iran air war raged for a fifth straight day.
He made the comments during his midnight departure from Canada, where he attended the Group of Seven nations summit on Monday, according to comments posted by a CBS News reporter on social media platform X.
Trump predicted that Israel would not be slowing its attacks on Iran. "You're going to find out over the next two days. You're going to find out. Nobody's slowed up so far," the CBS journalist quoted Trump as saying on Air Force One.
He said "I may", on the prospect of sending US Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff or Vice President JD Vance to meet with Iran.
Washington has said Trump was still aiming for a nuclear deal with Iran, even as the military confrontation unfolds.
"Simply stated, IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON. I said it over and over again! Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!" Trump said on Monday.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Tuesday that a "more powerful" new wave of missiles was recently launched towards Israel, the state news agency reported. A senior Iranian army commander said a new wave of drones would hit Israel.
Three people were killed and four injured in Iran's central city of Kashan in an Israeli attack, Iran's Nournews reported on Tuesday.
Iranian media also reported explosions and heavy air defence fire in Tehran early on Tuesday, with smoke rising in the city's east after an explosion of suspected Israeli projectiles. Air defences were activated also in Natanz, home to key nuclear installations 320 km (200 miles) away, the Asriran news website reported.
The UN’s atomic watchdog said there appear to have been “direct impacts” on the underground part of Iran’s Natanz nuclear site during Israel’s attacks.
“Based on continued analysis of high-resolution satellite imagery collected after Friday’s attacks, the IAEA has identified additional elements that indicate direct impacts on the underground enrichment halls at Natanz,” the International Atomic Energy Agency said on X.
Iran: Based on continued analysis of high resolution satellite imagery collected after Friday’s attacks, the IAEA has identified additional elements that indicate direct impacts on the underground enrichment halls at Natanz.
— IAEA - International Atomic Energy Agency ️ (@iaeaorg) June 17, 2025
No change to report at Esfahan and Fordow.
Khorramabad city MP Reza Sepahvand told the Iranian labour news agency that most incidents happening in Iran are due to "infiltrators" rather than direct action from Israel, adding that 21 people were killed in the western province of Lorestan.
Israel's military said on Tuesday that it killed Iran's wartime chief of staff. Israel also said it carried out extensive strikes on Iranian military targets including weapons storage sites and missile launchers.
TRUMP ALLY IN CONGRESS RENEWS OPPOSITION TO 'ANOTHER FOREIGN WAR'
Right-wing US Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene says Americans say the United States government should focus on issues at home, including safety, education and housing.
Americans want cheap gas, groceries, bills, and housing.
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (@RepMTG) June 17, 2025
They want affordable insurance, safe communities, and good education for their children.
They want a government that works on these issues.
Considering Americans pay for the entire government and government salaries…
“Considering Americans pay for the entire government and government salaries with their hard earned tax dollars, this is where our focus should be,” she wrote in a social media post. “Not going into another foreign war.”
ANOTHER BARRAGE OF IRANIAN MISSILES HIT ISRAEL
Iran has launched another missile attack on Israel. This is about the eighth wave of missiles from Iran in the last 24 hours.
Israel says most of the missiles are intercepted but some missiles do get through and can cause considerable devastation.
Air raid sirens in northern Israel due to Iranian missiles. Air raid sirens rang in a large swath of northern Israel on Tuesday warning of an incoming barrage of Iranian missiles, the military said.
"A short while ago, sirens sounded in several areas across Israel following the identification of missiles launched from Iran toward the State of Israel," the military said in the seventh such warning since midnight.
‘WE WILL SHOW THE ZIONISTS NO MERCY’: KHAMENEI
Despite Trump’s threats, the Iranian supreme leader reiterates that Iran will harshly retaliate against Israel’s attacks.
“We must give a strong response to the terrorist Zionist regime,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei wrote in English on X.
“We will show the Zionists no mercy.”
TRUMP WEIGHS US ROLE IN ISRAEL’S BOMBING CAMPAIGN AGAINST IRAN
Trump faces potentially the hardest choice of his time in the White House as he weighs up whether the US should join Israel’s bombing campaign against Iran.
Trump fuelled speculation about a US intervention as he dashed back from a G7 summit in Canada, warning on Tuesday that the US could kill Iran’s supreme leader, but would not “for now”.
The choice is a monumental one for a president who has promised throughout both his first and second terms in the Oval Office to get the United States out of its “forever wars” in the Middle East.
“It’s a major political and military choice that could define his legacy in the Middle East,” Behnam Ben Taleblu, director of the Iran programme at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, was quoted as saying by AFP news agency.
MACRON WARNS ATTEMPT AT IRAN REGIME CHANGE WOULD BRING 'CHAOS'
French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday warned any attempt to change the regime in Iran would result in "chaos" as US ally Israel traded fire with its arch foe.
Macron was speaking at a G7 summit in Canada shortly after President Donald Trump said the United States would not kill Iran's supreme leader "for now."
ERDOGAN SAYS ISRAEL UNDER NETANYAHU 'BIGGEST THREAT' TO REGION
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of being "the biggest threat" to the Middle East region, in a phone call with Qatar's emir on Tuesday, his office said.
Erdogan said that he "will continue his efforts to end the spiral of violence, and that Netanyahu has shown once again that he is the biggest threat to the security of the region," according to the presidency.
US EMBASSY IN JERUSALEM TO CLOSE FROM WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY
The US Embassy in Jerusalem will be shut from Wednesday through Friday due to the security situation in the region and to comply with Israeli guidance, the US State Department said on Tuesday.
"Given the security situation and in compliance with Israel Home Front Command guidance, the US Embassy in Jerusalem will be closed tomorrow (Wednesday, June 18) through Friday (June 20). This includes the Consular Sections in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv," the State Department said on X.
JUST IN: U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem closed from Wednesday through Friday pic.twitter.com/ct1MyapI5t
— BNO News Live (@BNODesk) June 17, 2025
‘NO LINK TO ANY ISRAEL-IRAN CEASEFIRE OFFER’
Trump, who left the summit early due to the Middle East situation, said his departure had "nothing to do with" working on a deal between Israel and Iran after French President Emmanuel Macron said the US had initiated a ceasefire proposal.
Macron "mistakenly said that I left the G7 Summit, in Canada, to go back to D.C. to work on a 'cease fire' between Israel and Iran," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform as he left the G7 summit in Canada to return to Washington.
"Wrong! He has no idea why I am now on my way to Washington, but it certainly has nothing to do with a Cease Fire. Much bigger than that," Trump added in the post.
Macron said earlier on Monday Trump had made an offer for a ceasefire between Israel and Iran. "There is indeed an offer to meet and exchange. An offer was made especially to get a ceasefire and to then kick-start broader discussions," Macron told reporters at the G7.
Trump left the G7 summit in Canada early to return to Washington due to the Middle East situation.
In his Truth Social post, the US president called Macron a "publicity seeking" leader and added: "Whether purposely or not, Emmanuel always gets it wrong." The French embassy in Washington had no immediate comment outside work hours.
Read also: Israel claims killing top Iranian commander amid escalating Tehran-Tel Aviv strikes
The air war between Iran and U.S. ally Israel - which began on Friday when Israel attacked Iran with air strikes - has raised alarms in a region that had already been on edge since the start of Israel's military assault on Gaza in October 2023.
Since the Israeli strikes on Friday, the two Middle Eastern rivals have exchanged blows, with Iranian officials reporting over 220 deaths, mostly civilians, while Israel said 24 civilians were killed.
Israel, the US and other Western nations have long sought to pressure Iran to curb its nuclear weapons development.
Tehran denies seeking nuclear weapons and has said it has the right to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, including enrichment, as a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Israel, which is not a party to the NPT, is the only country in the Middle East widely believed to have nuclear weapons.
Washington said Trump was still aiming for a nuclear deal with Iran.
CHINA ACCUSES TRUMP OF ‘POURING OIL’ ON ISRAEL-IRAN CONFLICT
China has accused President Donald Trump of “pouring oil” on the mounting conflict between Iran and Israel, after the US leader warned Tehran residents to “immediately evacuate”.
Asked about Trump’s remarks, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said: “Fanning the flames, pouring oil, making threats and mounting pressure will not help to promote the de-escalation of the situation, but will only intensify and widen the conflict.”
“The Chinese side calls on all relevant parties, especially countries with special influence on Israel, to shoulder their responsibilities, take immediate measures to de-escalate tensions, and prevent the conflict from expanding and spreading.”
Meanwhile, China's President Xi Jinping on Tuesday urged a de-escalation of the Israel-Iran conflict "as soon as possible", according to Chinese state media.
"All parties should work to de-escalate the conflict as soon as possible and prevent further escalation of tensions," he said during a meeting with the Uzbek president in Kazakhstan, Xinhua reported.
