• Trump meets National Security Council, claims ‘we’ control skies over Iran
• Hints that Khamenei could be targeted, calls for ‘evacuation of Tehran’
• US deploying more planes to the region, B52H bombers stationed in Indian Ocean
• Russia, China, France warn against escalation, regime change in Iran
• Tel Aviv hit overnight; scores killed, injured on both sides as bombardment continues

TEHRAN / JERUSALEM / WASHINGTON: Hopes of a de-escalation in the Middle East seemed to be dashed on Tuesday after President Donald Trump demanded “unconditional surrender” from Tehran and warned the US could easily assassinate its supreme leader, as Iran and Israel continued to trade devastating fire for a fifth day.

On Tuesday afternoon, Trump met his National Secu­rity Council he White House said, as the US leader considered whether to join Israel’s air campaign against Tehran.

The meeting in the White House Situation Room lasted around one hour and 20 minutes, a White House official said.

The most likely option under consideration by Trump would be the use of giant US “bunker-buster” bombs against Iran’s deeply buried Fordow nuclear facility that Israel’s bombs cannot reach.

The BBC’s Frank Gardner termed it the “30,000lb question”; the US has them, Israel doesn’t, he noted.

The New York Times said Trump was also considering allowing US tanker aircraft to refuel Israeli combat jets so they could carry out long range missions.

Meanwhile, Reuters reported that the US military was deploying more fighter aircraft to the Middle East and extending the deployment of other warplanes.

The deployments include F-16, F-22 and F-35 fighter aircraft, and officials said had so far been used to shoot down drones and projectiles targeting Israel.

Four US Stratofortress bombers are currently stationed at a remote US base in the Indian Ocean, an AFP analysis of satellite imagery indicated.

The four B52H bombers, which can carry nuclear weapons or other precision-guided munitions, were spotted on a southern tarmac at Diego Garcia on Monday at 0922 GMT.

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth also described the deployments as defensive in nature.

The US already has a sizeable force in the Middle East, with nearly 40,000 troops in the region, including air defence systems, fighter aircraft and warships that can detect and shoot down enemy missiles.

Trump’s posturing

In a series of posts on Truth Social, the President Trump’s increasingly irate tone and choice of words indicated that the US was not far from intervening to support Israel, its closest ally in the region.

“We now have completely and total control of the skies over Iran,” he posted, prompting many to question what he meant by ‘we’.

The US president has maintained that his country is not involved in the Iran-Israel conflict yet, but threatened Iran with severe consequences if it targeted US troops and assets in the Middle East.

He then posted ‘UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER’, an apparent demand addressed at Tehran.

Trump also made a veiled threat against Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, saying “we know exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding… We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now”.

Earlier, he also issued an extraordinary warning: “Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!”

On board Air Force One on his way back from the G7 summit in Canada, Trump told reporters he wanted a “real end” to the nuclear problem with Iran, with Iran “giving up entirely” on nuclear weapons.

When asked if Israel would slow down its attacks on Iran, Trump said: “You’re going to find out over the next two days. You’re going to find out. Nobody’s slowed up so far.”

Meanwhile, the US State Department announced a round-the-clock task force to help Americans in the Middle East amid the Israel-Iran conflict.

“The Department of State has established the Middle East Task Force to help coordinate support for us, citizens, our US diplomatic missions and personnel and diplomatic engagement,” State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said on Tuesday.

“The task force is operating 24 hours a day over the past week to help keep us citizens informed. We have issued more than 30 security alerts to countries in the region and updated travel advisories for Iraq and Israel,” she said.

World in dismay

As the world watched in horror, world leaders expressed their disapproval of the idea of the US joining the Middle Easy fray.

After emergency talks between its 27 foreign ministers, the EU resolved that diplomacy was the best path to tackle Tehran’s nuclear programme.

The Kremlin, meanwhile, said it was ready to act as a peace broker between Israel and Iran, but chided Tel Aviv’s “reluctance” to accept outside mediation.

“President Putin has said that Russia is ready to provide mediation services if necessary,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in a daily briefing.

The Russian Foreign Ministry also denounced continued Israeli attacks on Iran as illegal and said a solution to the conflict over Tehran’s nuclear programme could only be found through diplomacy.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping has also expressed deep concern over Israeli’s military campaign against Iran, calling for a de-escalation of the conflict “as soon as possible” during a meeting with Uzbekistan’s President in Kazakhstan on Tuesday.

“We oppose any act that infringes upon the sovereignty, security and territorial integrity of other countries,” the Xinhua news agency quoted him as saying.

Asked about Trump’s remarks, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said: “Fanning the flames, pouring oil, making threats and mounting pressure will not help to promote the de-escalation of the situation, but will only intensify and widen the conflict.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday warned any attempt to change the regime in Iran would result in “chaos” as US ally Israel traded fire with its arch foe.

“I believe we need the United States of America to bring everyone back around the table,” he told reporters at the G7 summit.

United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed also warned of “uncalculated and reckless steps” that could spill out beyond the borders of Iran and Israel.

Meanwhile, a member of Yemen’s Houthi rebels told Al Jazeera the group will intervene to support Iran against Israel like it did in support of Palestinians in Gaza.

Israeli attacks

Israeli warplanes targeted drone and missile sites with at least two waves of strikes in western Iran. On Tuesday night, the Irna news agency reported “continuous and intense” explosions in Tehran.

Earlier in the day, Israel claimed to have targeted military sites in Iran and killed a senior commander in fresh strikes, prompting Tehran to fire missiles in retaliation on the fifth day of escalating clashes.

The Israeli military said it killed senior Iranian commander Ali Shamdani in an overnight strike on a “command centre in the heart of Tehran”, four days after he replaced Golam Ali Rashid, who was also killed in an Israeli strike.

It also said it targeted multiple missile and drone sites in west Iran, including infrastructure, launchers and storage facilities, with black-and-white footage showing some of them exploding.

Loud explosions were heard in north Tehran and Iranian media reported widespread internet disruption on Tuesday, although it was not immediately clear what caused the disruption

Iranian media reported several explosions Tuesday in the central city of Isfahan, home to nuclear facilities.

Iranian response

Iran responded with multiple missile attacks, including a heavy overnight salvo targeting Tel Aviv. State television said the headquarters of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency was among the targets.

Earlier, the Revolutionary Guards said they had launched an attack targeting Israeli air bases. Air raid sirens rang in a large swath of northern Israel on Tuesday night, warning of an incoming barrage of Iranian missiles, the military said.

Although Israel’s military said it had intercepted “most” of the missiles fired from Iran on Tuesday, residents in the coastal hub of Tel Aviv and the north were urged to seek shelter.

Pictures of the aftermath showed widespread damage to what appeared to be a bus station in the coastal town of Herzliya, on the outskirts of Tel Aviv.

Published in Dawn, June 18th, 2025