Regional
Iran war enters second week as Trump demands ‘unconditional surrender’
The expanding war in Iran entered its second week on Saturday amid renewed uncertainty about how or when hostilities will end, as U.S. President Donald Trump declared he would only accept Tehran’s “unconditional surrender” and Israel traded fresh attacks with Iran and Lebanon.
Trump’s comments on social media on Friday came hours after Iran’s president announced that unnamed countries had begun mediation efforts, briefly raising the possibility, however faint, of a diplomatic resolution a week after the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran, Reuters reported.
“There will be no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!” Trump wrote. “After that, and the selection of a GREAT & ACCEPTABLE Leader(s), we, and many of our wonderful and very brave allies and partners, will work tirelessly to bring Iran back from the brink of destruction, making it economically bigger, better, and stronger than ever before.”
Trump has offered shifting explanations of his war aims, raising the possibility of an extended regional conflict that has already spilled well beyond Iran’s borders, shaken global financial markets and sent oil prices soaring.
In response to the attack, Iran has targeted Israel as well as multiple Gulf states that host U.S. military installations.
Inside Israel on Friday, explosions could be heard as Israeli defenses activated to shoot down incoming Iranian fire. The UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia all reported fresh drone and missile attacks.
Meanwhile, Israel pursued a major expansion of the war in Lebanon, pounding the capital Beirut on Friday after ordering an unprecedented evacuation of the city’s entire southern suburbs.
Israel also launched a new wave of attacks on Iran, saying 50 of its warplanes had hit a bunker still being used by Iran’s leadership beneath slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s destroyed Tehran compound.
Early on Saturday, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that Mehrabad Airport in Tehran had been struck.
There was no immediate comment from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard or Hezbollah.
Israel has extended its bombing to Lebanon to root out Hezbollah, the Shi’ite militia allied to Iran that has been a dominant faction in Lebanese politics since the 1980s. Hezbollah fired on Israel this week to avenge the death of Khamenei.
“We’re sleeping here in the streets – some in cars, some on the street, some on the beach,” said Jamal Seifeddin, 43, who fled Beirut’s southern suburbs and spent the night on the streets in the downtown district.
About 300,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon in the past four days, according to the Norwegian Refugee Council.
The Israeli military says it has destroyed 80% of Iran’s air-defense systems in the first week of the campaign and disabled more than 60% of its missile launchers.
MARKETS SWOON
Trump’s demand for Iran’s surrender, and the likelihood that it would complicate any quick path to ending the conflict, sent European and U.S. stock indexes tumbling on Friday. Oil prices hit their highest prices in years with the critical shipping lane of the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed down.
Trump told Reuters in a telephone interview on Thursday that he must have a say in selecting Iran’s new supreme leader to replace Khamenei, killed on the war’s first day, a demand he repeated on Friday in a remarkable assertion of power over the country of more than 90 million people.
Iran’s U.N. ambassador, Amir Saeid Iravani, told reporters that new leadership would be chosen “in accordance with our constitutional procedures and solely by the will of the Iranian people – without any foreign interference.”
Israel has said openly that it aims to overthrow Iran’s ruling system. It has been bombing parts of western Iran to support Iranian Kurdish militias who hope to exploit the war to seize towns near the frontier, according to three sources familiar with Israel’s talks with the factions.
Iran has cast the war as an unprovoked attack and describes the killing of Khamenei as an assassination.
HUNDREDS KILLED SO FAR
Earlier on Friday, Iran President Masoud Pezeshkian posted on social media: “Some countries have begun mediation efforts.” He did not identify the countries or provide further details.
Russia is providing Iran with locations of U.S. warships and aircraft in the Middle East after Iran’s ability to locate U.S. forces was degraded, the Washington Post reported, citing three officials familiar with the intelligence.
Russian missions in the U.S. did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the report.
Trump met with executives from seven defense contractors on Friday, who he later said had agreed to accelerate weapons production. The administration has been pressuring contractors as Iran and other recent operations have drawn down supplies.
Karoline Leavitt, a White House spokeswoman, said the U.S. has enough weapons stockpiles to meet the needs of its Iran operations, which she said would take about four to six weeks to complete.
At least 1,332 people have been killed in Iran since the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on February 28, Iravani said, citing the Iranian Red Crescent Society.
The Lebanese health ministry has reported 123 people killed and 683 wounded as a result of Israeli attacks. Iranian attacks have killed 11 people in Israel since the war started, and at least six U.S. service members have been killed.
Two U.S. officials told Reuters that military investigators believed it was likely that U.S. forces were responsible for an apparent strike on an Iranian girls’ school that killed scores of children on the first day of the war. The investigators have not yet reached a final conclusion.
Regional
Mojtaba Khamenei: Iran’s neighbors must close all U.S. bases
Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran’s new leader, said on Thursday that Iran’s neighbors must close all U.S. bases on their territory, as Tehran will continue its attacks against them.
In his first statement, broadcast and read out by state television, Khamenei told the Iranian people: “I assure everyone that we will not neglect avenging the blood of your martyrs.”
He added: “The popular demand is to continue our effective defence and make the enemy regret! The lever of blocking the Strait of Hormuz must continue to be used.”
However, state television did not explain why Khamenei’s first remarks were read by a presenter rather than delivered in a video.
No images of him have yet been released since the strike that killed his father, Ali Khamenei.
In these remarks, Mojtaba Khamenei also confirmed that his wife, sister, and other family members were killed.
Regional
Up to 3.2 million displaced inside Iran as conflict escalates, UNHCR says
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says up to 3.2 million people have been displaced inside Iran since the conflict that erupted on February 28, warning that the humanitarian situation is rapidly worsening.
In a statement released Thursday, the UN refugee agency said the figure is based on preliminary assessments of uprooted households and could rise further if hostilities continue.
“This number is likely to increase as fighting persists, signaling a troubling escalation in humanitarian needs,” UNHCR said.
The agency noted that many of the displaced have fled their homes in search of safety, often moving to nearby provinces or staying with relatives and host communities. Others have sought temporary shelter in public buildings and informal settlements, placing additional pressure on local resources.
Humanitarian organizations say the sudden movement of millions of people is creating urgent needs for shelter, food, medical care and basic services. Aid agencies are working with local authorities to assess conditions and deliver assistance to affected communities.
The displacement crisis comes amid broader regional instability that has raised concerns among international organizations about the potential for further population movements both inside Iran and across borders.
UNHCR said it is continuing to monitor developments closely and is coordinating with humanitarian partners to scale up assistance as the situation evolves.
Regional
Trump on Iran: We won, but don’t want to leave early
Trump has seesawed on Iran, crediting the U.S. military for significantly degrading Iran’s military but resisting a speedy end to the conflict.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that “we won” the Iran war but that the United States will stay in the fight to finish the job.
“You never like to say too early you won. We won,” Trump told a campaign-style rally in Hebron, Kentucky. “In the first hour it was over.”
He said the United States had knocked out 58 Iranian naval ships.
Trump has seesawed on Iran, crediting the U.S. military for significantly degrading Iran’s military but resisting a speedy end to the conflict.
“We don’t want to leave early do we?” Trump said. “We got to finish the job.”
He said the United States has “virtually destroyed Iran.” He seemed to signal that the United States would continue the fight for now.
“We don’t want to go back every two years,” he said.
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