Trump considers involvement in Iran strikes after urging 'unconditional surrender'
U.S. President Donald Trump is weighing the possibility of participating in Israel's strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities, as the conflict enters its sixth day and tensions escalate with increasingly heated rhetoric from all parties.
American strikes could involve using superior weaponry to hit an underground nuclear site at Fordo, according to five sources who spoke to the BBC's US partner CBS News, News.Az reports.
The president met with his national security team on Tuesday to discuss next steps.
Israel and Iran have exchanged deadly strikes since Friday. Analysts say Trump's comments suggests a willingness to join the Israelis, despite his earlier call for de-escalation and his vocal support for a diplomatic solution to limit Iran's nuclear research.
He has shown increasing frustration over a perceived lack of progress to secure a new deal that would be aimed at preventing Iran from building a nuclear weapon. Trump pulled out of a previous accord with Iran during his first term.
In a social media post on Tuesday, Trump threatened Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and said the US knew where he was.
"He is an easy target, but is safe there," 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."
Another post from Trump simply read: "UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!"
On Wednesday, Iran's supreme leader responded to the comments directly and said the country would never surrender.
"Any form of US military intervention will undoubtedly be met with irreparable harm," Khamenei said.
"Wise people who know Iran, its people, and its history never speak to this nation in the language of threats, because Iranians are not those who surrender," he added.
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