US President Donald Trump on Wednesday declined to answer reporters’ questions on whether the US was planning to strike Iran or its nuclear facilities, and said the Iranians had reached out but he feels “it’s very late to be talking.”
“There’s a big difference between now and a week ago,” Trump told reporters outside the White House.
“Nobody knows what I’m going to do.” Trump said that Iran had proposed to come for talks at the White House. He did not provide details. He described Iran as totally defenseless, with no air defense whatsoever.
The US military said it is “prepared to execute” any decision President Donald Trump might make on matters of war and peace, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Wednesday, even as he declined to confirm preparations of strike options on Iran.
“If and when those decisions are made, the Department (of Defense) is prepared to execute them,” Hegseth told the Senate Armed Services Committee
Meanwhile, Iranians jammed the highways out of the capital Tehran fleeing from intensified Israeli airstrikes.
In the latest bombing, Israel said its air force destroyed the headquarters of Iran’s internal security service. “As we promised – we will continue to strike at symbols of governance and hit the Ayatollah regime wherever it may be,” Defence Minister Israel Katz said.
The Iranian Red Crescent said Wednesday that an Israeli attack took place near its building in Tehran, on the sixth day of an air war between Iran and Israel, noting that the strike appeared to not be targeting the aid group.
In a statement on its Telegram channel, the Red Crescent reporting an “attack by the Zionist regime near the Red Crescent Peace building.”
Earlier, Khamenei, 86, rebuked Trump in a recorded speech played on television, his first appearance since Friday.
He warned the United States and Israel of “irreparable damage” if they continue military provocations against the Islamic Republic.
Khamenei said the Iranian nation “will never be subdued” and that any attempt at foreign military intervention would be met with full force. He declared that Iran’s armed forces are prepared to defend the country and enjoy the full backing of the government.
“The Zionist regime made a grave mistake and will face consequences,” Khamenei said, referring to recent violations of Iranian airspace. “Iran will not forgive this breach and our people will not remain silent.”
He added that Iran would respond with strength to both “imposed war” and “imposed peace”, saying the nation would not bow to threats or coercion.
“The blood of our martyrs will not be forsaken,” he said, warning that wise leaders should avoid speaking to Iran “in a threatening tone” as history shows the Iranian people resist domination.
Regional tensions have escalated since Friday, when Israel launched airstrikes on multiple sites across Iran, including military and nuclear facilities, prompting Tehran to launch retaliatory strikes.
A Washington-based human rights organisation had reported Wednesday that the death toll from Israeli airstrikes across Tehran and other populated areas has risen to around 585 killed with at least 1,326 people injured since the attacks started last week.
Israeli authorities said at least 24 people have been killed and 804 injured since Iranian missile attacks struck 40 different locations acrosss Israeli territory.
IRGC launches ‘advanced weapons’
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) earlier announced that the country had carried out fresh strikes on Israeli targets, utilising its newly developed Fattah-1 hypersonic missiles
The IRGC’s statement emphasised that the Fattah-1 missile had successfully penetrated Israeli air defense systems, delivering a powerful blow to the occupying regime.
