US President Donald Trump has approved plans to strike Iran, but has not made a final decision on whether to strike the country, according to reports. Trump is reportedly considering a US strike on Fordo, an underground uranium enrichment facility in Iran. The news was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, and CBS News cited a senior intelligence source as saying that Trump had held off from initiating strikes in case Iran agreed to abandon its nuclear programme.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rejected Trump’s demand for unconditional surrender, saying that “any US military intervention” would be costly and adding that “the Iranian nation will not surrender.” Khamenei made the comments in a recorded speech, and Trump brushed off the rejection, saying “good luck” but declining to disclose his plans. “I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do,” he said. “Unconditional surrender – that means I’ve had it.”
The war of words between Trump and Khamenei comes as Israel’s military launched more attacks on Iran, hitting missile sites and nuclear facilities. Iran said it had fired hypersonic missiles in response, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country’s forces were “progressing step by step” towards eliminating threats posed by Iran’s nuclear sites and ballistic missile arsenal.
The US has been building up its military presence in the Middle East, with a carrier strike group led by the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier steaming from south-east Asia to join another strike group led by the USS Carl Vinson, already in the Gulf. The US State Department said Secretary of State Marco Rubio would meet UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy in Washington DC on Thursday, for talks expected to focus on Iran.
The US embassy in Jerusalem has issued an evacuation plan for American citizens currently in Israel, although it was unclear how many Americans were seeking to leave Israel or whether the US military would assist with the evacuation flights. The conflict has already resulted in significant loss of life, with at least 585 people killed in Israel’s strikes on Iran, according to Human Rights Activists, and 24 people killed in Iran’s missile attacks on Israel, according to Israeli authorities.