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President Donald Trump of the United States has indicated that the only resolution with Iran would come through what he termed “unconditional surrender,” following the initiation of military action against the country a week prior.
“Once that occurs, and once a GREAT & ACCEPTABLE Leader(s) is chosen, we, alongside our courageous allies and partners, will tirelessly work to rescue Iran from the brink of ruin,” Trump stated in a social media post. He emphasized their commitment to revitalizing Iran’s economy.
Trump concluded his post with the phrase “MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN (MIGA!),” echoing his well-known campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again.”
During a press briefing on Friday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was questioned about the president’s use of “unconditional surrender.”
“The president’s intention,” Leavitt explained, “is that once he, as the commander in chief of the US Armed Forces, deems Iran no longer a threat to America, and the objectives of Operation Epic Fury are completely achieved, Iran will effectively be in a state of unconditional surrender, regardless of whether they acknowledge it publicly.”
The US was on its way towards controlling Iranian airspace, Leavitt said, adding that it expects the achievable objectives to be completed in four to six weeks.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Leavitt also said the administration was looking at potential candidates to lead Iran, a day after Trump told Reuters the US should play a role in helping choose a replacement for supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, killed in the war’s first day.
“I know there’s a number of people that our intelligence agencies and the United States government are looking at but I won’t get any further on that,” Leavitt said.
Mediation efforts
Trump’s post on social media came just hours after Iran’s president announced that unspecified countries had begun mediation efforts in one of the first signals of any diplomatic initiative to end the conflict.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian posted on X: “Some countries have begun mediation efforts.”
He did not identify the countries or provide further details.
“Let’s be clear: we are committed to lasting peace in the region, but we have not the slightest hesitation in defending the dignity and authority of our country. Mediation should address those who underestimated the Iranian people and ignited this conflict,” he said.
Under Iran’s system, the president is subordinate to the supreme leader, but Pezeshkian is now serving on a panel that has assumed Khamenei’s duties.
Israel pounded the Lebanese capital Beirut on Friday after ordering an unprecedented evacuation of the entire southern suburbs of the city.
It also launched a new wave of attacks on Iran, saying 50 of its warplanes had struck a bunker beneath the destroyed Tehran compound of Khamenei, still being used by Iran’s leadership after he was killed.
The US will respond to Iranian attacks on civilians throughout the Middle East, US central command leader Brad Cooper said on Friday.
Cooper said Iran has attacked 12 different countries since the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran last week, including firing seven attack drones at residential neighbourhoods in Bahrain on Thursday night.
These are Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Cyprus, Israel, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and the United Arab Emirates.
“This is unacceptable and will not go unanswered,” Cooper said in a statement.
Trump on Friday also said the US was moving thousands of people out of various countries throughout the Middle East.
“It is being done quietly, but seamlessly,” Trump said in a social media post without providing further details
The US state department said later on Friday that it was continuing to reach out to US citizens in the Middle East to offer charter flights or ground transport travel assistance.
Blurring the lines of reality
On Friday, the White House’s social media blurred the lines of reality after posting montages that wove snippets of Hollywood blockbusters and video games into real footage of military strikes on Iran.
A 42-second video posted on X with the caption “Justice the American way” opens with a scene from the film Iron Man and the line “Wake up, Daddy’s home” which is likely a reference to an expression used by NATO chief Mark Rutte, who once referred to US President Donald Trump as “daddy.”
What follows are clips from male actors cast as heroes, including Tom Cruise in Top Gun: Maverick, Mel Gibson in Braveheart, Russell Crowe in Gladiator, Bryan Cranston in Breaking Bad, and Keanu Reeves in John Wick.
Hollywood’s heroics are interspersed with footage released by the US military showing real strikes on various targets.
Actor and filmmaker Ben Stiller on Friday called on the White House to remove a clip in the video from Tropic Thunder, a satirical 2008 film about war movies that he directed and co-wrote.
“We never gave you permission and have no interest in being a part of your propaganda machine. War is not a movie,” Stiller wrote on X.
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