‘Surrender': Trump's demand as strikes escalate
Conflict in the Middle East has entered a sixth day, with Israel and Iran continuing to trade strikes, as the IDF steps up its targeting of missile and military sites and Iran warns the US of revitalisation if the leader of the free world gets involved.
US President Donald Trump has again shared an ominous warning to Iran.
Taking to his social media platform Truth Social, the US President demanded an 'unconditional surrender!'
The message, although ambiguous, came after Mr Trump said the US knew 'exactly where' Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was hiding, adding his patience was 'wearing thin'.
'We know exactly where the so-called 'Supreme Leader' is hiding. He is an easy target, but is safe there,' Mr Trump wrote.
'We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now.
'But we don't want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers.
'Our patience is wearing thin.
The warning came as Mr Trump claimed that there was now 'complete and total control' of the skies over Iran.
The IDF on Tuesday used that airspace to conduct targeted strikes on 12 missile launch sites in Iran.
'The IAF struck 12 missile launch sites and storage facilities in Iran aimed at Israeli civilians,' the IDF said in a statement on social media.
The post was shared with a video showing the complete decimation of a site it claimed was 'preparing to launch'.
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In Tehran, a city home to 17 million people who were told by US President Donald Trump to 'evacuate', strikes continue, with a large blast seen at a site believed to belong to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
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Abdolrahim Mousavi, chief of staff for the Iranian armed forces, told Israelis in Haifa and Tel Aviv to evacuate for 'the sake of their lives'.
'Residents of the occupied territories, especially Tel Aviv and Haifa, are strongly urged to leave these areas for the sake of their lives,' he said.
Shortly after the warning, the IRGC issued a statement confirming it was targeting Israeli air bases.
'Our attacks against Israel will continue in a constant, complex, multi-layered and gradual manner… We targeted the airbases from which the Zionist entity launched attacks against Iranian territory,' it said in a statement.
Iran has put the United States on notice. The New York Times reported two Iranian officials saying the country would attack US bases in the Middle East if Mr Trump further involves the nation.
As the United States edges perilously close to undeniable involvement in the Israel-Iran conflict, fears of an all-out war are growing, as other countries have vowed to support Israel or Iran.
North Korea's Kim Jong Un reportedly said: 'Tehran does not stand alone.'
'The Korean People's Army is on high alert,' he added, according to IntelliNews.
Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a senior official with the Houthi rebel movement, said: 'We will intervene to support Tehran against Zionist aggressions as we supported our brothers in Gaza.'
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the 'greatest threat' to security in the Middle East.
'Netanyahu has once again demonstrated that he is the greatest threat to the region's security,' Mr Erdogan told Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, the Emir of Qatar.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Israel was doing 'the dirty work' to protect the world.
'I can only say I have the greatest respect for the fact that the Israeli army and the Israeli government had the courage to do this.'
Mr Merz said that Iran had 'brought death and destruction to the world with attacks, with murder and manslaughter, with Hezbollah, with Hamas.'
With Iranian leaders suffering their most dangerous security breach since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that toppled a US-backed monarch and led to clerical rule, the country's cyber security command banned officials from using communications devices and mobile phones, Fars news agency reported.
Israel had launched a 'massive cyber war' against Iran's digital infrastructure, Iranian media reported.
Israel launched its air war after saying it had concluded that Iran was on the verge of developing a nuclear weapon.
Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons and has pointed to its right to nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, including enrichment, as a party to the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Israel, which is not a party to the NPT, is the only country in the Middle East widely believed to have nuclear weapons.
Israel does not deny or confirm that.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stressed that he will not back down until Iran's nuclear development is disabled, while Trump says the Israeli assault could end if Iran agrees to strict curbs on enrichment.
Israel says it now has control of Iranian airspace and intends to escalate the campaign in the coming days.
Iran has so far fired nearly 400 ballistic missiles and hundreds of drones towards Israel, with about 35 missiles penetrating Israel's defensive shield and making impact, Israeli officials say.
Unconfirmed reports have suggested that former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was targeted in an assassination attempt while in his car, with his wife and two sons in recent days.
The reports emerged after the IDF said it had eliminated Iran's most senior military adviser Major General Ali Shadmani.
'For the second time in 5 days, the IDF has eliminated Iran's Wartime Chief of Staff, the regime's top military commander,' the IDF said.
'Ali Shadmani, Iran's senior-most military official and Khamenei's closest military advisor, was killed in an IAF strike in central Tehran, following precise intelligence.'
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