US President Donald Trump has demanded Iran’s “unconditional surrender”, a dramatic escalation of his demands a week into the war he launched alongside Israel, which said on Friday that it had struck and destroyed the underground military bunker of Iran’s slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei.
Trump made the remarks on social media just hours after Iran’s president announced that unspecified countries had begun mediation efforts, one of the first signals of any diplomatic initiative to end the conflict.
“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.”
The US is well on its way towards controlling Iranian airspace, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Friday, adding that Washington expects the achievable US objectives to be completed in four to six weeks.
The surrender demand, and the likelihood that this would complicate any quick path to ending a conflict that has interrupted global energy supplies, caused immediate shock in financial markets. European share markets, open at the time of Trump’s post, suffered a sudden swoon. Wall Street opened sharply lower soon after.
South China Morning Post, News, Opinion, China, Hong Kong, World, US, Asia, Business, Economy, Technology, Lifestyle, Sport#Israel #jets #struck #Iran #leaders #bunker #Trump #demands #unconditional #surrender1772826238
Asia
bunker
business
China
demands
Economy
Hong Kong
Iran
Israel
jets
Leaders
lifestyle
News
Opinion
South China Morning Post
Sport
struck
Surrender
Technology
Trump
unconditional
US
world
