President Donald Trump dismissed any possibility of negotiations with what is left of the Iranian terror state, calling for officials in the country to accept “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER” in a post on Truth Social on Friday.
Trump launched Operation Epic Fury on Saturday, a military engagement targeting dozens of Iran’s top officials. Iran is the world’s most prolific and aggressive sponsor of terrorism and its leaders regularly chant “death to America” and “death to Israel” at public events. Iranian officials have also insisted on the illicit development of nuclear technology consistent only with the production of nuclear weapons, violating international law.
The American operation’s most high-profile result so far has been the elimination of Iran’s “supreme leader,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. It is unclear at press time if any one individual is running the Iranian government. An “Assembly of Experts” reportedly convened to choose a new supreme leader, but multiple reports suggest Israeli attacks have stalled the work to choose a new successor.
The few forward-facing Iranian officials left in the government, including the foreign minister and president, have claimed to be interested in some negotiation to end the hostilities, though they have also repeatedly claimed to be willing to continue a prolonged war against the United States. Iran and the United States had engaged in several rounds of “indirect” talks through mediators from Oman in February before Operation Epic Fury began.
In apparent response to these remarks, Trump issued his statement on Friday morning, dismissing the possibility of further negotiations with Iran.
“There will be no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!” Trump asserted.
“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,” his statement continued. “IRAN WILL HAVE A GREAT FUTURE. ‘MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN (MIGA!).’”
Trump offered phone calls to multiple media outlets on Thursday evening in which he stated that he believes Washington must have a say in the new leadership of Iran to prevent continuous cycles of war.
“We want to be involved in the process of choosing the person who is going to lead Iran into the future, so we don’t have to go back every five years and do this again and again,” he told Reuters. “We want somebody that’s going to be great for the people, great for the country.”
Speaking with the Washington, DC, media outlet Axios, Trump dismissed the possibility of accepting Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of Ali Khamenei, as the new “supreme leader.” Anonymous reports in various American and Israeli media claimed this week that the Assembly of Experts was leaning towards choosing the younger Khamenei to succeed his father.
“They are wasting their time. Khamenei’s son is a lightweight. I have to be involved in the appointment, like with Delcy [Rodríguez] in Venezuela,” the president was quoted as saying. “Khamenei’s son is unacceptable to me. We want someone that will bring harmony and peace to Iran.”
Trump’s Truth Social Post follows the first substantive remarks from Pezeshkian in days, acknowledging third parties seeking to find an end to the violence.
“Some countries have begun mediation efforts. Let’s be clear: we are committed to lasting peace in the region yet we have no hesitation in defending our nation’s dignity & sovereignty,” Pezeshkian said. “Mediation should address those who underestimated the Iranian people and ignited this conflict.”
The Iranian efforts against Operation Epic Fury so far have consisted largely in drone and missile strikes on neighboring countries. So far, the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has struck Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, Israel, Qatar, Iraq, Cyprus, and Azerbaijan, claiming to be seeking targets linked to America and Israel. Several of the countries have complained that Iran is targeting civilian facilities, including oil refineries, liquified natural gas (LNG) facilities, airports, and schools.
Images out of Kuwait on Friday showed explosions detonating near an American-hosting base in Kuwait.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told NBC News on Thursday that, contrary to Pezeshkian’s suggestion that Iran was open to mediation, Iran was “not asking for a ceasefire.”
“We are not asking for a ceasefire, and we don’t see any reason why we should negotiate,” Araghchi told NBC News. “Negotiate with the U.S. when we negotiated with them twice, and every time they attacked us in the middle of negotiations?” So there is no request for a ceasefire by us, and there is no request for the negotiation with the U.S. from us.”
Araghchi also patently denied that Iran had “attacked Muslim countries.” The Iranian government had previously claimed it would only target American and Israeli assets and, in the case of Azerbaijan, claimed, without evidence, that the Iranian drone traveling out of Iran and attacking Azerbaijan was actually an Israeli operation.
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