US President Donald Trump said on 17 June that the United States knows exactly where Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is “hiding”, that he is an “easy target” but that he will not be killed, “at least not yet”. Trump wrote this on the social media site Truth Social.
At the same time, Trump said that “patience is running out” and Iran should not launch missiles at civilians or the US military.
In addition, the US president wrote the phrase: “silent surrender”, without specifying what he meant, as well as “we are now in full control of the skies over Iran”. Who Trump meant by “we” is unclear.
The memo does not mention Israel and Iran, but says that US-made weapons are the best in the world and superior to Iranian weapons.
Earlier, Israeli commanders claimed to have achieved air supremacy over Iran.
The strikes on Tehran and targets elsewhere in Iran are the fifth consecutive day of Israeli strikes. Iran, in turn, has been launching missile strikes against Israel.
Trump’s posts were published after he left the Group of Seven summit in Canada late Sunday night early and returned to Washington, allegedly due to the escalation in the Middle East.
Speaking to reporters, the US president said he expected Iran to completely abandon its nuclear programme. “I’m not looking for a ceasefire, we’re longing for something better than just a ceasefire,” Trump said. He also promised the development of the situation “within the next two days”. The US president did not give details.
Tehran has expressed its willingness to give up nuclear weapons, but not its nuclear programme. Israel, like the United States, fears that the peaceful nuclear programme Tehran says it has is just an excuse to build nuclear weapons. Trump has repeatedly said the United States will not allow Iran to possess such weapons.
On 15 June, Reuters, citing two unnamed US officials, reported that US President Donald Trump had in recent days allegedly vetoed an Israeli plan to assassinate Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
At the same time, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told ABC News that he did not rule out a scenario involving an attempt to eliminate Khamenei. According to him, “this would not lead to an escalation of the conflict, but would put an end to it”.