Capitulation ultimatum: Iran war widens as Trump demands unconditional surrender
BEIRUT/WASHINGTON/JERUSALEM, March 7 — The war involving Iran entered its second week on Saturday as U.S. President Donald Trump said he would accept nothing short of Tehran’s “unconditional surrender,” while Israel exchanged fresh attacks with Iran and expanded military operations in Lebanon, raising uncertainty over how or when the conflict may end.
Trump’s comments on social media on Friday came hours after Iran’s president said unnamed countries had begun mediation efforts, briefly raising the possibility of a diplomatic resolution nearly a week after the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran. The fighting has since widened, with Iran responding by targeting Israel as well as Gulf states hosting U.S. military facilities.Escalating regional strikes Explosions were heard across Israel on Friday as Israeli air defenses activated to intercept incoming Iranian missiles and drones. Authorities in the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia reported additional drone and missile attacks, underscoring the widening regional impact of the conflict.Israel also intensified operations in Lebanon, carrying out heavy air strikes on the capital Beirut after ordering residents to evacuate the city’s southern suburbs, an area considered a stronghold of the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.
“We’re sleeping here in the streets some in cars, some on the street, some on the beach,” Jamal Seifeddin, 43, said after fleeing Beirut’s southern districts and spending the night in the city’s downtown area.Attacks inside IranIsrael launched a fresh wave of strikes on Iranian targets, saying about 50 of its warplanes attacked a bunker it said was still being used by Iran’s leadership beneath the destroyed Tehran compound of slain Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.Early on Saturday, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that Mehrabad Airport in Tehran had been struck. There was no immediate response from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard or Hezbollah.Iran’s envoy to the United Nations said the war had killed 1,332 Iranian civilians, providing one of the first official casualty figures since hostilities intensified.Lebanon front expandsIsrael’s military campaign has increasingly focused on Hezbollah positions in Lebanon, as the country seeks to weaken the Shi’ite militia that has been closely aligned with Tehran and a major force in Lebanese politics since the 1980s.
Hezbollah fired on Israel earlier this week, saying the strikes were in retaliation for the killing of Khamenei, drawing Lebanon more directly into the conflict and raising fears that the war could widen further across the region.Uncertainty remains over whether mediation efforts could gain traction, even as fighting continues across multiple fronts and governments across the Middle East report fresh attacks.
