‘Unconditional surrender’: Trump demands this from Tehran as Iran reels, saying that the US can easily assassinate the Supreme Leader.
States — President Donald Trump on Tuesday demanded “unconditional surrender” from Tehran and warned 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.
READ: Israel-Iran conflict: Latest developments
It also said 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.
