Trump demands ‘unconditional surrender' as Iran reels
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump on Tuesday demanded 'unconditional surrender' from Tehran and warned the United States could easily assassinate its supreme leader as Iran and US ally Israel traded devastating fire for a fifth day.
The comments fueled questions over whether Washington will join Israel's attacks after insisting it had no hand in the campaign.
Israeli warplanes targeted drone and missile sites with at least two waves of strikes in western Iran on Tuesday, the military said.
It also said it had killed senior Iranian commander Ali Shadmani in an overnight strike on a 'command centre in the heart of Tehran', just four days after his predecessor, Gholam Ali Rashid, was killed in Israel's initial surprise attack.
The new attacks drew retaliatory fire from the Islamic republic, with explosions heard over Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and air raid sirens sounding around Dimona, a southern town home to a nuclear power plant. There were no immediate reports of hits.
Days after a senior US official said Trump had told Israel to back down from plans to assassinate top leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the US president appeared to reverse course.
'We know exactly where the so-called 'Supreme Leader' is hiding. He is an easy target, but is safe there -- We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now,' Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
Warning Iran against targeting US interests, he also posted:
'But we don't want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers. Our patience is wearing thin,' he added, later posting a message saying: 'UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!'
Trump and his National Security Council met on Tuesday to discuss the conflict, ending after an hour and 20 minutes with no immediate public statement.
'Punitive operations'
Despite international alarm, neither side has backed off from the long-range blitz that began Friday, when Israel launched an unprecedented bombing campaign targeting Iranian nuclear and military facilities.
Iranian media reported several explosions Tuesday in the central city of Isfahan, home to nuclear facilities. Blasts were also heard across Tehran.
The Iranian armed forces warned residents in the Israeli cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa to evacuate 'for the sake of their lives', warning of 'punitive operations' to come.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had launched an attack targeting Israeli air bases.
Residential areas in both countries have suffered deadly strikes since the fighting broke out, and foreign governments have scrambled to evacuate their citizens.
A cyberattack on Tuesday crippled Sepah Bank, one of Iran's main state-owned banks, the Fars news agency reported.
Fearing the violence, many residents have fled Tehran.
On Tuesday, long queues stretched outside bakeries and petrol stations as the remaining residents rushed to stock up on fuel and basic supplies.
Trump late Monday warned on social media that the entire population of Tehran should evacuate 'immediately,' without offering any explanation.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the United States was deploying 'additional capabilities' to the Middle East, with a US aircraft carrier reportedly heading to the region.
China accused Trump of 'pouring oil' on the conflict, while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu of being 'the biggest threat to the security of the region.'
'Direct impacts'
After decades of enmity and a prolonged shadow war, Israel said its surprise air campaign was aimed at preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons -- an ambition Tehran denies.
The UN's nuclear watchdog said there appeared to have been 'direct impacts on the underground enrichment halls' at Iran's Natanz facility.
Israel has maintained ambiguity regarding its own atomic activities, but the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) says it has 90 nuclear warheads.
The conflict derailed a running series of nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington, with Iran saying after the start of Israel's campaign that it would not negotiate with the United States while under attack.
French President Emmanuel Macron said Trump had a critical role in restarting diplomacy with Tehran and that attempts at regime change would bring 'chaos.'
Since Friday, at least 24 people have been killed in Israel and hundreds wounded, according to Netanyahu's office.
Iran said on Sunday that Israeli strikes had killed at least 224 people, including military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians. It has not issued an updated toll since then.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
42 minutes ago
- The Sun
Dominant Chinese makers of bitcoin mining machines set up US production to beat tariffs
THE world's three best-selling makers of bitcoin mining machines - all of Chinese origin - are setting up manufacturing footholds in the United States as President Donald Trump's tariff war reshapes the cryptocurrency supply chain. Bitmain, Canaan and MicroBT build over 90% of global mining rigs - essentially computers dedicated to number-crunching that produces bitcoin. Establishing U.S. bases could shield them from tariffs but risks stoking security concerns the U.S. has with China in areas as varied as chip making and energy security. 'The U.S.-China trade war is triggering structural, not superficial, changes in bitcoin's supply chains,' said Guang Yang, chief technology officer at crypto tech provider Conflux Network. Moreover, for U.S. firms, 'this goes beyond tariffs. It's a strategic pivot toward 'politically acceptable' hardware sources,' Yang said. Bitmain, the biggest of the three by sales, started U.S. production of mining rigs in December in a 'strategic move' following Trump's presidential electoral win a month earlier. Canaan started trial production in the U.S. with the aim of avoiding tariffs after Trump on April 2 announced his so-called Liberation Day levies, senior executive Leo Wang told Reuters. The initiative is exploratory as the volatile tariff situation precludes heavy investment, he said. Third-ranked MicroBT in a statement said it is 'actively implementing a localisation strategy in the U.S.' to 'avoid the impact of tariffs'. The trio dominate a sector analysts estimated to be worth $12 billion by 2028. It is the upstream of a business chain that extends through the energy-intensive process of mining bitcoin, the supporting IT infrastructure and the trading platforms. U.S. rival Auradine - backed by top bitcoin miner by market value, MARA Holdings - has been lobbying to restrict Chinese supplies to stimulate competition in hardware. 'While over 30% of global bitcoin mining occurs in North America, more than 90% of mining hardware originates from China representing a major imbalance of geographic demand and supply,' said Auradine's chief strategy officer, Sanjay Gupta. Consultancy Frost & Sullivan estimated the top three held 95.4% of the hardware market in terms of computing power sold as of December 2023. When it comes to Chinese mining rigs, 'hundreds of thousands of them connected to the U.S. electrical grid' is a security risk, Gupta said. Canaan's Wang said mining rigs do not threaten security because 'they are useless if not applied to bitcoin mining'. Still, manufacturers could suffer 'collateral damage' from U.S. restrictions on high-tech sales to Chinese firms, he said. Underscoring the risk, Bitmain's AI affiliate, Sophgo, has been blacklisted by the U.S. government on security grounds. Bitmain did not reply to a request for comment. FIRST-MOVER China once dominated the entire bitcoin value chain - from rig-making through mining to trading - until its government banned cryptocurrency activity on the Chinese mainland in 2021 citing risk to financial stability. Miners, traders and exchanges moved abroad. Shielded by their role as technology manufacturers, however, Bitmain, Canaan and MicroBT continued to dominate in hardware. They fended off Western rivals partly due to first-mover advantage in developing high-performance chips tailor-made for mining. Canaan has since moved its headquarters to Singapore from China - though it still has Chinese operations - and set up a pilot production line in the U.S., a market that contributed 40% of revenue last year. 'The rationale is to try to reduce the cost for both us and our customers,' said Wang, Canaan's vice president of corporate development and capital markets. The prospect of tariffs means 'we have to explore all alternatives'. The U.S. this year imposed a 10% baseline tariff on imports from many countries plus an extra 20% on imports from China. It has also said it could increase tariffs for Southeast Asian countries where Chinese rig makers have set up assembly plants. CHOKE POINT Trump has promised to be the 'crypto president' who popularises cryptocurriencies' mainstream use in the United States. Son Eric Trump together with energy and technology firm Hut 8 launched miner American Bitcoin with the goal of building a strategic bitcoin reserve. The president's crypto-friendly policies, however, can only highlight China's outsized role in bitcoin infrastructure, potentially putting rig makers in the crosshairs. China's hardware dominance 'creates a choke point for U.S. miners,' said John Deaton, a U.S. crypto-law attorney. 'If China restricts exports or manipulates supply ... it could disrupt bitcoin's network stability and affect U.S. users and investors,' Deaton said. The biggest miners by market value - MARA, Core Scientific , CleanSpark and Riot Platforms - are all U.S.-based, so over-reliance on hardware of Chinese origin 'is potentially problematic', said Ryan M. Yonk, an economist at the American Institute for Economic Research. Chinese rig makers might be setting up shop in the U.S. but in the short term, U.S. miners will still buy rigs from China and be stung by higher import costs, said Kadan Stadlemann, chief technology officer at crypto platform Komodo. 'But this isn't about hurting the industry. It's about forcing a long-overdue shift,' he said.
The Sun
43 minutes ago
- The Sun
Chinese bitcoin rig giants shift to US amid tariff pressure
THE world's three best-selling makers of bitcoin mining machines - all of Chinese origin - are setting up manufacturing footholds in the United States as President Donald Trump's tariff war reshapes the cryptocurrency supply chain. Bitmain, Canaan and MicroBT build over 90% of global mining rigs - essentially computers dedicated to number-crunching that produces bitcoin. Establishing U.S. bases could shield them from tariffs but risks stoking security concerns the U.S. has with China in areas as varied as chip making and energy security. 'The U.S.-China trade war is triggering structural, not superficial, changes in bitcoin's supply chains,' said Guang Yang, chief technology officer at crypto tech provider Conflux Network. Moreover, for U.S. firms, 'this goes beyond tariffs. It's a strategic pivot toward 'politically acceptable' hardware sources,' Yang said. Bitmain, the biggest of the three by sales, started U.S. production of mining rigs in December in a 'strategic move' following Trump's presidential electoral win a month earlier. Canaan started trial production in the U.S. with the aim of avoiding tariffs after Trump on April 2 announced his so-called Liberation Day levies, senior executive Leo Wang told Reuters. The initiative is exploratory as the volatile tariff situation precludes heavy investment, he said. Third-ranked MicroBT in a statement said it is 'actively implementing a localisation strategy in the U.S.' to 'avoid the impact of tariffs'. The trio dominate a sector analysts estimated to be worth $12 billion by 2028. It is the upstream of a business chain that extends through the energy-intensive process of mining bitcoin, the supporting IT infrastructure and the trading platforms. U.S. rival Auradine - backed by top bitcoin miner by market value, MARA Holdings - has been lobbying to restrict Chinese supplies to stimulate competition in hardware. 'While over 30% of global bitcoin mining occurs in North America, more than 90% of mining hardware originates from China representing a major imbalance of geographic demand and supply,' said Auradine's chief strategy officer, Sanjay Gupta. Consultancy Frost & Sullivan estimated the top three held 95.4% of the hardware market in terms of computing power sold as of December 2023. When it comes to Chinese mining rigs, 'hundreds of thousands of them connected to the U.S. electrical grid' is a security risk, Gupta said. Canaan's Wang said mining rigs do not threaten security because 'they are useless if not applied to bitcoin mining'. Still, manufacturers could suffer 'collateral damage' from U.S. restrictions on high-tech sales to Chinese firms, he said. Underscoring the risk, Bitmain's AI affiliate, Sophgo, has been blacklisted by the U.S. government on security grounds. Bitmain did not reply to a request for comment. FIRST-MOVER China once dominated the entire bitcoin value chain - from rig-making through mining to trading - until its government banned cryptocurrency activity on the Chinese mainland in 2021 citing risk to financial stability. Miners, traders and exchanges moved abroad. Shielded by their role as technology manufacturers, however, Bitmain, Canaan and MicroBT continued to dominate in hardware. They fended off Western rivals partly due to first-mover advantage in developing high-performance chips tailor-made for mining. Canaan has since moved its headquarters to Singapore from China - though it still has Chinese operations - and set up a pilot production line in the U.S., a market that contributed 40% of revenue last year. 'The rationale is to try to reduce the cost for both us and our customers,' said Wang, Canaan's vice president of corporate development and capital markets. The prospect of tariffs means 'we have to explore all alternatives'. The U.S. this year imposed a 10% baseline tariff on imports from many countries plus an extra 20% on imports from China. It has also said it could increase tariffs for Southeast Asian countries where Chinese rig makers have set up assembly plants. CHOKE POINT Trump has promised to be the 'crypto president' who popularises cryptocurriencies' mainstream use in the United States. Son Eric Trump together with energy and technology firm Hut 8 launched miner American Bitcoin with the goal of building a strategic bitcoin reserve. The president's crypto-friendly policies, however, can only highlight China's outsized role in bitcoin infrastructure, potentially putting rig makers in the crosshairs. China's hardware dominance 'creates a choke point for U.S. miners,' said John Deaton, a U.S. crypto-law attorney. 'If China restricts exports or manipulates supply ... it could disrupt bitcoin's network stability and affect U.S. users and investors,' Deaton said. The biggest miners by market value - MARA, Core Scientific , CleanSpark and Riot Platforms - are all U.S.-based, so over-reliance on hardware of Chinese origin 'is potentially problematic', said Ryan M. Yonk, an economist at the American Institute for Economic Research. Chinese rig makers might be setting up shop in the U.S. but in the short term, U.S. miners will still buy rigs from China and be stung by higher import costs, said Kadan Stadlemann, chief technology officer at crypto platform Komodo. 'But this isn't about hurting the industry. It's about forcing a long-overdue shift,' he said.
The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
Fiscal reform to balance fiscal sustainability, social equity - Treasury Sec-Gen
KUALA LUMPUR: The government's fiscal reform initiatives, including expanding the Sales and Services Tax (SST) scope and rationalising electricity and diesel subsidies, are aimed at ensuring fiscal sustainability while protecting lower-income groups and essential sectors. Treasury secretary-general Datuk Johan Mahmood Merican said one of the key fiscal reform elements is the Fiscal Responsibility Act, which aims to reduce the government's fiscal deficit to 3.8 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2025 and further to 3.0 per cent by 2028. He said that what has gained some attention in recent weeks is the SST, and the idea is to approach it in a more targeted manner, which Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said reflects the spirit of social protection. 'How do we then try to approach it more progressively? It is the government that needs to provide additional funding. 'We need to increase our tax base as our tax-to-GDP (ratio) is about 12.5 per cent, which is amongst the lowest in this region,' he said during a session titled 'Social Safety Nets: Securing the Future' at the Sasana Symposium 2025, hosted by Bank Negara Malaysia today. Johan said there is room to increase the tax base for the sustainability of expenditure, as well as growing demands for social protection and basic infrastructure. Thus, he said there is a need to increase the tax base in a progressive manner, where the government must ensure that basic daily goods are not subject to higher SST. He also noted that from an equity standpoint, it appears highly counterintuitive to allocate the same amount of assistance to both low-income and high-income individuals. As such, the government typically adopts a more targeted approach as part of its broader reform agenda to ensure that aid reaches those who need it most. He noted that the government allocated RM10 billion for Sumbangan Tunai Rahmah (STR) in 2024, and this year, the allocation has increased to RM13 billion, which also includes another aid assistance programme called Sumbangan Asas Rahmah (SARA). Meanwhile, he stated that while a progressive wealth tax is intellectually appealing and aligned with Islamic principles such as zakat, it presents major challenges in terms of administration, enforcement, and data availability. He explained that income and consumption taxes are easier to manage due to the regular and traceable transactions, whereas wealth is harder to assess and value. 'I mean, it is very Islamic because zakat, in a sense, is based on wealth. But I think the real challenge -- and it is not just a Malaysian issue but also a global issue -- is that it is quite challenging to administer a wealth tax compared to an income tax,' he added.
