In a surprising move, President Donald Trump has demanded ‘unconditional surrender’ from Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei as tensions in the Middle East continue to escalate.
The President, 79, asserted that the United States holds ‘total control’ over Iranian airspace amid growing fears that the country could be mere days from developing a nuclear weapon.
As of June 17, the violent exchange of airstrikes between Israel and Iran has entered its fifth day. Israel has initiated a major drone assault targeting nuclear installations across Iran.
Critical nuclear sites at Natanz, Isfahan, and Fordow were targeted by Israel, with satellite images indicating significant damage at the Natanz and Isfahan locations.
On Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the military strikes as ‘a targeted military operation to roll back the Iranian threat to Israel’s very survival’.
President Trump has taken to Truth Social to issue a string of unusual statements, hinting at possible US intervention if Iran reveals a nuclear bomb.
“We now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran. Iran had good sky trackers and other defensive equipment, and plenty of it, but it doesn’t compare to American made, conceived, and manufactured ‘stuff.’ Nobody does it better than the good ol’ USA,” he posted.
The statement left many Americans puzzled, with one Twitter user asking: “So are we involved now?”
Another user questioned: “There is something I don’t understand, isn’t this war Iran vs Israel?”
Trump also stated on Truth Social: “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.
“But we don’t want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers. Our patience is wearing thin. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
This was followed by a call for: “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!”
These strong declarations come despite Trump’s assertion that the US remains uninvolved in the conflict.
Iran faces accusations of pursuing a nuclear warhead, as it mines large amounts of uranium and enriches it to 60 percent, a level with no civilian utility.
For context, natural uranium consists of about 0.7 percent uranium-235, unsuitable for nuclear reactors unless enriched to 3.5 percent by reducing uranium-238 content.
However, Iran’s production and storage of uranium enriched to 60 percent suggests significant progress towards weapon-grade uranium (WGU), which typically reaches 90 percent purity.
According to the Institute for Science and International Security, a non-profit watchdog, Iran reportedly has enough highly enriched uranium to potentially create nearly a dozen nuclear bombs within a month if the material reaches 90 percent enrichment.
Their monitoring report from Monday (June 9) indicates that one of Iran’s facilities could produce weapons-grade uranium (WGU) in mere days.
Alarmingly, the report states: “Iran could produce its first quantity of 25 kg of WGU in Fordow in as little as two to three days.
“Breaking out in both Fordow and the Natanz Fuel Enrichment Plant (FEP), the two facilities together could produce enough WGU for 11 nuclear weapons in the first month, enough for 15 nuclear weapons by the end of the second month, 19 by the end of the third month, 21 by the end of the fourth month, and 22 by the end of the fifth month.”