Trump says no talks with Iran unless it surrenders

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — U.S. President Donald Trump appeared to rule out negotiations with Iran to end the escalating conflict in the Middle East, saying any potential deal would require Tehran’s “unconditional surrender.”

In a social media post on Friday, Trump said negotiations would only follow a complete capitulation from Iran and the installation of new leadership in the country.

“After that, and the selection of a GREAT & ACCEPTABLE Leader(s), we, and many of our wonderful and very brave allies and partners, will work tirelessly to bring Iran back from the brink of destruction, making it economically bigger, better, and stronger than ever before,” Trump wrote.

His remarks came as fighting intensified across the region on the seventh day of a widening conflict involving Israel, Iran, and several Middle Eastern states.

Israeli warplanes carried out heavy airstrikes on targets in Tehran and Beirut on Friday, while Iran launched retaliatory missile and drone attacks toward Israel and several Gulf countries hosting American forces.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned that the American air campaign against Iran would “surge dramatically,” signaling a potential escalation in military operations.

The Israeli strikes in Lebanon were reported to be the most intense since a 2024 ceasefire ended the last war between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah. Tens of thousands of civilians have fled Beirut’s southern suburbs and parts of southern Lebanon following Israeli evacuation warnings.

The conflict has expanded to affect more than a dozen countries across the Middle East. The United States said it struck an Iranian drone carrier at sea while continuing operations against Iran’s naval forces. Earlier in the week, a U.S. submarine sank an Iranian frigate in the Indian Ocean.

U.S. Central Command chief Brad Cooper said the drone carrier, the IRIS Shahid Bagheri, had been set ablaze during the strike. The vessel, a converted container ship with a runway for drones, can reportedly travel up to 22,000 nautical miles without refueling.

Cooper also said B-2 Spirit stealth bombers dropped dozens of 2,000-pound “penetrator” bombs on deeply buried ballistic missile launchers inside Iran.

Iran continued its counterattacks Friday, launching missiles and drones toward Israel and several Gulf states hosting U.S. forces, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain.

Qatar said it intercepted a drone targeting the Al Udeid Air Base, which houses the forward headquarters of the U.S. Central Command. Saudi Arabia reported intercepting three ballistic missiles aimed at the Prince Sultan Air Base near Riyadh.

In Bahrain, authorities said Iranian strikes targeted two hotels and a residential building, though no casualties were reported. Kuwait said its air defenses were activated when missiles and drones crossed into its airspace.

Explosions were also heard in Tel Aviv early Friday as Israeli air defense systems intercepted incoming Iranian missiles.

Officials across the region report the conflict has already caused significant casualties. At least 1,230 people have been killed in Iran, more than 120 in Lebanon and around a dozen in Israel. Six U.S. troops have also died in the fighting.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said “some countries” had begun mediation efforts to halt the conflict but did not identify the parties involved.

Meanwhile, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, Volker Türk, urged all sides to de-escalate the crisis.

“The world urgently needs to see steps to contain and extinguish this blaze,” Türk said.

Trump, speaking briefly at the White House, again urged Iranians to rise against their government, promising what he described as “immunity” to those who help “take back” the country, though he offered no details about what that would entail.

The U.S. president also suggested he should play a role in selecting Iran’s next supreme leader following the reported death of Ali Khamenei in the opening strikes of the war. Trump dismissed the possibility that Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba Khamenei, could succeed him, calling him “a lightweight.”

Iranian state media reported that a leadership council had begun discussions on convening the country’s Assembly of Experts, an 88-member clerical body tasked with selecting the next supreme leader.

In Lebanon, Israeli forces carried out at least 11 airstrikes late Thursday and early Friday targeting southern suburbs of Beirut, sparking fires near a gas station and forcing two hospitals to evacuate patients and staff.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam criticized both Israel and Hezbollah, saying the Lebanese government and its people “did not choose this war.”