Israel-Iran war: Khamenei warns 'battle begins,' launches hypersonic missiles

Yahoo

3 hours ago

June 17 (UPI) -- Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is an "easy target," and Iran should surrender unconditionally, President Donald Trump said Tuesday before Iran's leader countered with his own warning, "the battle begins."
As Iran fired two hypersonic missile barrages into Israel on Tuesday night, Khamenei wrote in a post on X, "In the name of the noble Haidar, the battle begins," along with an image of fire raining down on an ancient city.
In a separate X account, he wrote in English, "We must give a strong response to the terrorist Zionist regime. We will show the Zionists no mercy."
There were no injuries reported in Iran's attacks, as Israel Defense Forces issued an evacuation order before a new wave of airstrikes in Tehran.
Earlier Tuesday, Trump urged Khamenei to surrender.
"We know exactly where the so-called 'Supreme Leader' is hiding," Trump said in a Truth Social post.
"He is an easy target but is safe there -- we are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now," Trump continued.
"But we don't want missiles shot at civilians or American soldiers," he said, adding, "Our patience is wearing thin."
In a subsequent post, Trump simply stated, "Unconditional surrender!" in all capital letters.
Trump said he hasn't reached out to Iranian leaders and isn't "in the mood" to negotiate with them, ABC News reported.
He said Israel has "complete and total control of the skies over Iran" due to "American-made, conceived and manufactured" arms.
Trump posted his comments after Israeli and Iranian forces continued exchanging aerial assaults during the fifth day of the active war between the two nations.
The president met with military advisers shortly after returning early from the G7 conference in Canada on Tuesday due to the situation in the Middle East.
Israeli forces are targeting ballistic missile launch sites and command centers in central Iran.
"We've struck deep, hitting Iran's nuclear ballistic capabilities," Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.
"We have delivered significant blows to the Iranian regime, and as such, they have been pushed back into central Iran," the IDF statement says.
"They are now focusing their efforts on conducting missile fire from the area of Isfahan."
Meanwhile, Iranian officials have issued warnings to civilians in Tel Aviv and Haifa to evacuate because they are targeted for a "punitive operation."
"The operations carried out so far have merely been warnings for deterrence," Iran's commander-in-chief Abdolrahim Mousavi said on Tuesday. "A punitive operation will be executed soon."
He referred to the Israeli cities as "occupied territories" and said residents should leave them "for their own safety and not to become victims of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu's barbaric actions."
The U.S. embassy in Israel announced it will close Wednesday for three days due to the escalating conflict.
"As a result of the current security situation and ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran, the U.S. Embassy has directed that all U.S. government employees and their family members continue to shelter in place and near their residences until further notice."
The embassy, located in Jerusalem, said it had no information to assist private U.S. citizens who want to leave the country, adding that Israel's largest airport, Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv, is closed.