Tehran, Iran. The expanding war in Iran entered its second week on Saturday amid uncertainty over how or when hostilities will end, as U.S. President Donald Trump said he would only accept Tehran’s “unconditional surrender.” Israel traded fresh attacks with Iran and Lebanon as regional tensions continued to rise.
Trump sets out conditions and shifting war aims
Trump wrote on social media on Friday that there would be no agreement with Iran “except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!” He added that after that and “the selection of a GREAT & ACCEPTABLE Leader(s),” the United States and its allies and partners would work to bring Iran “back from the brink of destruction.”
Trump has offered shifting explanations of his war aims, raising the possibility of an extended regional conflict that has already spilled beyond Iran’s borders, shaken global financial markets and sent oil prices soaring.
Mediation efforts mentioned as strikes continue
Trump’s comments came hours after Iran’s president announced that unnamed countries had begun mediation efforts, briefly raising the possibility of a diplomatic resolution a week after the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran.
Attacks reported across Israel and Gulf states
Iran has targeted Israel as well as multiple Gulf states that host U.S. military installations.
Inside Israel on Friday, explosions were heard as Israeli defenses activated to shoot down incoming Iranian fire. The UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia reported fresh drone and missile attacks.
Israel expands operations in Lebanon and strikes Iran
Israel intensified operations in Lebanon, striking Beirut on Friday after ordering an evacuation of the city’s entire southern suburbs.
Israel also launched a new wave of attacks on Iran, saying 50 warplanes struck a bunker it said was still being used by Iran’s leadership beneath the destroyed Tehran compound of slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
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.
How do you think mediation efforts could affect the course of the conflict?