Trump says he wants ‘real end’ to nuclear problem with Iran, Israel warns Khamenei

WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump said he wanted a “real end” to the nuclear dispute with Iran and indicated that he may send senior American officials to meet the Islamic Republic’s leaders as the Israel-Iran air war raged for a fifth day.

“Giving up entirely,” he told reporters on Air Force One early on June 17 on his way back from the Group of Seven summit in Canada. “Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, it is very simple.”

Meanwhile, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said that Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, could face the same fate as Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, who was toppled in a US-led invasion and eventually hanged after a trial.

“I warn the Iranian dictator against continuing to commit war crimes and fire missiles at Israeli citizens,” Mr Katz said, speaking alongside top Israeli military officials. Shortly after, Iran’s state media reported that an explosion was heard in Tehran.

Mr Trump predicted that Israel would not be easing its attacks on Iran. “You are going to find out over the next two days. You are going to find out. Nobody has slowed up so far,” he said.

Mr Trump said he may send US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff or Vice-President J.D. Vance to meet the Iranians.

He also said he had not seen any signs yet of North Korea or Russia getting involved to help Iran.

Washington has said Mr Trump is still aiming for a nuclear deal with Iran, even as the military confrontation unfolds. “If they want to talk, they know how to reach me. They should have taken the deal that was on the table – would have saved a lot of lives,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform, referring to Iran.

Mr Trump, who left the G7 summit early due to the Middle East situation, said his departure had “nothing to do with” working on a deal between Israel and Iran, after French President Emmanuel Macron said the US had initiated a ceasefire proposal.

Something “much bigger” than that was expected, he said on his Truth Social platform late on June 16.

Mr Khamenei has seen his main military and security advisers killed by Israeli air strikes, leaving major holes in his inner circle and raising the risk of strategic errors, according to five people familiar with his decision-making process.

One of those sources, who regularly attends meetings with the Iranian Supreme Leader, described the risk of miscalculation to Iran on issues of defence and internal stability as “extremely dangerous”.

Israel’s military said Iran’s military leadership is “on the run” and that it had killed its wartime chief of staff Ali Shadmani overnight, four days into his job after replacing another top commander killed in earlier strikes.

Mr Khamenei, who was imprisoned before the 1979 revolution and maimed by a bomb attack before becoming leader in 1989, is profoundly committed to maintaining Iran’s Islamic system of government and is deeply mistrustful of the West.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they hit Israel’s Military Intelligence Directorate and spy agency Mossad’s operational centre early on June 17. There was no Israeli confirmation of such attacks.

Israel launched its air war with a surprise attack that has killed nearly the entire top echelon of Iran’s military commanders and its leading nuclear scientists. It says it now has control of Iranian airspace and intends to escalate the campaign in the coming days.

Mr Trump has consistently said the Israeli assault could end quickly if Iran agreed to US demands that it accept strict curbs on its nuclear programme.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on June 17 that a “more powerful” new wave of missiles was recently launched towards Israel, the state news agency reported. A senior Iranian army commander said a new wave of drones would hit Israel.

Three people were killed and four injured in Iran’s central city of Kashan in an Israeli attack, Iran’s Nournews reported.

Explosions, air defence fire

Iranian doctors and nurses have been recalled from leave to carry out their duties, Iranian media reported.

World oil markets are on high alert for any developments that could hit global supply.

Two oil tankers collided and caught fire on June 17 near the Strait of Hormuz, where electronic interference has surged during the conflict between Iran and Israel, but there were no injuries to crew or spillage reported. About a fifth of the world’s total oil consumption passes through the waterway.

Naval sources have told Reuters that electronic interference with commercial ship navigation has increased in recent days around Hormuz and the wider Gulf, having an impact on vessels.

Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesman said Israel’s “uncalculated” targeting of Iran’s South Pars gas field, where production was temporarily suspended on June 14 after a fire erupted from a strike, is worrying everyone about supplies.

Iran shares the field, the world’s biggest, with Qatar. The spokesman said production was steady.

Iran has so far fired 400 ballistic missiles and hundreds of drones towards Israel, said an Israeli military official.

Iranian officials have reported 224 deaths, mostly civilians, from Israeli strikes.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said nearly 3,000 Israelis had been evacuated due to damage from Iranian strikes. Israel’s military said 24 people have been killed and more than 647 injured in Iranian attacks – with 35 missiles penetrating its defence shield and making direct hits.

“If President Trump is genuine about diplomacy and interested in stopping this war, next steps are consequential,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on social media platform X.

“Israel must halt its aggression, and absent a total cessation of military aggression against us, our responses will continue.”

Tehran denies seeking nuclear weapons and has said it has the right to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, including enrichment, as a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Israel, which is not a party to the treaty, is the only country in the Middle East widely believed to have nuclear weapons. Israel does not deny or confirm that. REUTERS