Trump threatens to escalate bombing as Iran vows never to surrender
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The announcement came as Iran continued to launch attacks in the region in response to US-Israeli strikes on the Islamic republic.
PHOTO: AMIT ELKAYAM/NYTIMES
- Donald Trump threatened further bombing of Iran after US and Israeli air strikes hit Tehran's airport, escalating the ongoing conflict.
- Iranian President Pezeshkian vowed no surrender, retaliating with attacks on Jerusalem, Dubai and Saudi Arabia, while apologising to neighbours.
- The conflict, sparked by Khamenei's death, widened to Lebanon, Cyprus and beyond, causing market slumps, displacement and numerous casualties.
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TEHRAN – US President Donald Trump threatened to escalate the bombing of Iran on March 7, as Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian vowed that his country would never surrender, despite a fresh blitz of US and Israeli air strikes that set Tehran’s airport ablaze.
Israel confirmed some of the biggest raids on March 7 since the aerial bombardment of Iran began, with a military academy, an underground command centre and a missile storage facility named as targets. Images showed fire and smoke billowing from Tehran’s Mehrabad International Airport, one of two that serve the capital.
“Today Iran will be hit very hard!” Mr Trump posted on his Truth Social platform. “Under serious consideration for complete destruction and certain death, because of Iran’s bad behaviour, are areas and groups of people that were not considered for targeting up until this moment in time.”
President Pezeshkian struck a defiant tone in a speech broadcast on state TV, in which he appeared to address Mr Trump, who said on March 6 that only Iran’s “unconditional surrender” could end the war. Iran’s enemies “must take their wish for the unconditional surrender of the Iranian people to their graves”, Mr Pezeshkian said.
Iran also hit back on March 7, with air raid alerts and explosions heard above Jerusalem, as well as Gulf cities Dubai, Manama and near Riyadh, where Saudi Arabia intercepted a ballistic missile fired at an air base housing US military personnel.
The United Arab Emirates said it intercepted 15 ballistic missiles and 119 drones on March 7, but video footage showed one projectile crashing into Dubai Airport, the world’s busiest for international traffic in usual circumstances.
An explosion took place next to an airport building and parked planes close to a passing train. Dubai Airport briefly suspended all operations
Jordan also accused Iran of “targeting vital installations” inside the country with 119 missiles and drones over the last week, according to military spokesman Mustafa Hayari.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards also said they targeted the oil tanker Prima in the Gulf as it attempted to cross the narrow Strait of Hormuz, a key chokepoint for global shipping that Iran has effectively closed.
In his speech, Mr Pezeshkian apologised to neighbouring countries for Iran’s attacks across the region, saying that they would not be targeted unless attacks originated from them.
“I must apologise on my own behalf and on behalf of Iran to the neighbouring countries that were attacked by Iran,” he said.
“The interim leadership council agreed that no more attacks will be made on neighbouring countries and no missiles will be fired unless an attack on Iran originates from those countries,” he added.
Human cost
Now entering its second week, the war was sparked by joint Israeli and US airstrikes on Feb 28 that killed Iran’s supreme leader
The conflict has since widened to Lebanon, as well as Cyprus in the European Union, Turkey and Azerbaijan, and reached as far as waters off Sri Lanka, where US forces sank an Iranian warship with a torpedo.
Inside Iran, damage to infrastructure and residential buildings is mounting, while residents of the capital report growing anxiety and a heavy presence of security forces on the streets.
“I don’t think anyone who hasn’t experienced war would understand it,” a terrified 26-year-old teacher said on condition of anonymity. “When you hear the bombs, you have no idea where they will hit.”
The Iranian Health Ministry put the civilian death toll at 926 on March 6, with around 6,000 injured.
Israel has also intensified its air strikes on Lebanon, repeatedly striking and ordering the evacuation of Beirut’s densely populated southern suburbs, where the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah holds sway.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry said at least 217 people have been killed in Israeli air strikes, and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam warned that a “humanitarian disaster is looming”. In addition to the toll, 300,000 people in Lebanon have been forced to flee their homes, the Norwegian Refugee Council said.
The consequences of the conflict reach far beyond those in the immediate firing line, however.
Global stock markets have slumped, while crude oil prices have surged, with analysts warning that there appears to be no clear path to ending a conflict that US and Israeli officials have suggested could last a month or more.
Mr Trump, who has given varying reasons for starting the war, has spurned fresh talks with Tehran and said on Truth Social on March 6 that “there will be no deal with Iran except unconditional surrender
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that when Mr Trump determines that Iran no longer poses a threat to the US and the operation’s goals are realised, “Iran will essentially be in a place of unconditional surrender, whether they say it themselves or not”.
Defiance
Mr Trump also promised to help rebuild the country’s economy if Tehran installs someone “acceptable” to him to replace Iran’s late supreme leader.
Mr Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, said the US would have no role in selecting Mr Khamenei’s successor. “The selection of Iran’s leadership will take place strictly in accordance with our constitutional procedures and solely by the will of the Iranian people, without any foreign interference,” he added.
Though Iranian retaliation has been inflicted widely across the Middle East, US rivals China and Russia have stayed largely out of the fray despite their ties to the Islamic Republic.
Russian President Vladimir Putin voiced support for an “immediate” ceasefire during a phone call with Mr Pezeshkian on March 6, the Kremlin said.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said the US is “not concerned” about reports that Russia is providing intelligence to Iran on US troop positions and movements.
While declining to confirm the reports, Mr Hegseth, in an interview with CBS’ 60 Minutes, said: “We’re tracking everything.”
The war has killed six US service members
