MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Trump has world guessing his next step regarding Iran

The Republican leader claimed Tehran's “unconditional surrender” was the only acceptable outcome

US President Donald Trump insisted Wednesday it was too late for the Islamic regime of the Ayatollahs to discuss the conditions of a nuclear plan. The Republican leader made those remarks as he keeps the world guessing his next steps towards Iran, including the possible direct involvement of US forces alongside Israel's in the ongoing war. “Nobody knows what I'm going to do,” Trump told reporters.

Trump also admitted he would only accept Iran's “unconditional surrender” because “for 40 years they've been saying, death to America, death to Israel, death to anybody else that they didn't like. They were bullies. They were schoolyard bullies, and now they're not bullies anymore.”

After six days of reciprocal attacks between Tehran and Tel Aviv, Trump once again noted the importance of preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons, which -if achieved- could have catastrophic global consequences. “Not going to let that happen,” Trump pledged.

Meanwhile, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned of severe consequences for US intervention, vowing not to surrender following his country's response with ballistic missiles -including the state-of-the-art Fatah ones- against Israel. Over 452 deaths have been reported on the Iranian side, including 224 civilians, and 24 in Israel.

“Iran does NOT negotiate under duress, shall NOT accept peace under duress, and certainly NOT with a has-been warmonger clinging to relevance. Iran shall respond to any threat with a counter-threat, and to any action with reciprocal measures,” Tehran further argued. In addition, “any American intervention would be a recipe for an all-out war in the region with very, very bad consequences for the whole international community,” Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmail Baghaei told Al Jazeera English on Wednesday.

As the conflict escalates, Washington has evacuated nonessential diplomats and families from Israel, with the embassy planning further extractions.

Iran's UN ambassador called for an emergency Security Council session to condemn Israel's actions and prevent US involvement, warning of “irreversible consequences” if unaddressed.

US military movements, including tanker aircraft to Europe and the redirection of the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier to the Middle East, suggest potential preparations for involvement, though Israel has not formally requested it.

“We struck a centrifuge production site that was intended to enable the regime to continue to enhance its uranium enrichment. This complements actions from previous operations we have conducted targeting components of the nuclear program,” Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin explained in the meantime. According to The UN's International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran's TESA Karaj workshop and the Tehran Research Center were hit.