By Jack Phillips
Contributing Writer
President Donald Trump said on Friday that he wants unconditional surrender from the Iranian regime and would then work to “bring Iran back from the brink.” His comments come in the midst of a week-long U.S. and Israeli military campaign targeting the country.
Detailing what the administration wants from Iran to potentially stop the military operation that took out the Islamic Republic’s top leadership, Trump wrote on social media that “there will be no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!”
The president then suggested that he wants to select Iranian leaders on his terms. He added that the United States, “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 signed off his Truth Social post with “MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN (MIGA!),” a take on his longtime campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again.”
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Friday that “some countries” had begun mediation efforts, without elaborating. On Friday, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk called on all countries involved to de-escalate, saying, “The world urgently needs to see steps to contain and extinguish this blaze.”
Those remarks come as Israeli warplanes pounded Beirut and Tehran on Friday, and Iran launched another wave of retaliatory attacks against Israel and Gulf countries that host U.S. military forces.
The U.S. military confirmed early Friday that it struck an Iranian drone carrier.
Meanwhile, three drones hit the United Arab Emirates on Friday, the country’s Defense Ministry said in a post on X. It did not elaborate on where they fell or the damage they caused.
Qatar said early Friday it intercepted a drone attack targeting Al Udeid Air Base, which hosts the forward headquarters of U.S. Central Command.
Saudi Arabia intercepted and destroyed three ballistic missiles fired on Friday toward Prince Sultan Air Base south of Riyadh, which also hosts U.S. forces, said a spokesperson for Saudi Arabia’s Defense Ministry.
On Thursday, drones hit territory inside Azerbaijan, which the country blamed on Iran. Azerbaijani officials said the Iranian regime must answer their questions about the drone strikes or face retaliation, although they did not elaborate on what that could entail.
On Thursday, Trump told media outlet Axios he wants to be involved in selecting Iran’s next leader after the country’s top leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in airstrikes on Feb. 28. He said that he believes that the son of the late ayatollah, Mojtaba Khamenei, should not be named as his replacement to lead the regime.
“I have to be involved in the appointment, like with Delcy (Rodriguez) in Venezuela,” Trump said, referring to Venezuela’s former vice president, who became the interim leader after Nicolás Maduro was captured by U.S. forces in January.
Trump, in remarks at the White House, once again urged the Iranian people to “help take back your country.” He also promised that the U.S. government would grant them immunity amid ongoing dangers under the current Iranian regime. He said the U.S. military’s objectives are “far ahead of schedule.”
“So you’ll be perfectly safe with total immunity,” he said. “Or you’ll face absolutely guaranteed death.”
Days before that, he said at an Oval Office meeting that he doesn’t believe the son of the late Iranian shah, Reza Pahlavi, would be an acceptable leader. Instead, Iran should be led by an insider or “somebody from within” the regime, Trump suggested.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
