Trump Warns of Iran Attacks as Tensions Escalate – Latest Updates
US President Donald Trump has warned of significant retaliatory strikes against Iran, escalating tensions following a series of attacks across the Middle East.
In a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump stated the US would “seriously consider total destruction and certain death” due to what he described as “Iran’s bad behavior.”
President Offered Apology
“I should apologize to the neighboring countries that have been attacked by Iran,” Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a statement Saturday.
He explained that Iran’s armed forces launched attacks to “defend our territorial integrity.”
According to the president, the interim government instructed the military on Friday not to carry out further attacks against neighboring countries.
“From now on, they should not attack neighboring countries or fire missiles at them unless we are attacked from those countries. I believe we should resolve this through diplomacy,” Pezeshkian continued.
President Trump attributed the statement to the US and Israeli strikes.
“Iran, which is being beaten to HELL, has apologized and surrendered to its neighbors in the Middle East, promising they will no longer shoot at them. This pledge only comes since of the ruthless attacks from the United States and Israel,” he wrote on Truth Social.
Doubts Over President’s Authority
Shortly after the Iranian president’s announcement, Qatari authorities reported their military had intercepted a missile attack.
On Saturday morning, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) stated it had attacked the US portion of the Al Dhafra air base in the United Arab Emirates, according to Reuters.
“Does President Masoud Pezeshkian actually have any power over what the Revolutionary Guard does?”
“No, he doesn’t. Plain and simple,” said Eirik Kvindesland, an Iran historian and postdoctoral fellow at the Austrian Academy of Sciences.
Kvindesland explained that the supreme leader typically holds authority over the Revolutionary Guard. Though, with the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran is without a supreme leader.
“The Revolutionary Guard has its own preferences and interests and does not simply obey the elected authorities,” he said.
Leadership Crisis
Kvindesland added that the president’s authority is generally limited.
“It became particularly clear in the weeks leading up to the war. It was not the president who was preparing Iran for war. it was the National Security Council and the Revolutionary Guard.”
Kvindesland pointed out that Iran is currently facing a leadership crisis.
“The supreme leader is dead, and they are trying to discover a fresh one. That process is dragging on, and the Israelis are doing everything they can to ensure it drags on even more and the crisis worsens.”
The war complicates assessing the president’s power over the Revolutionary Guard, according to Sverre Lodgaard.
Lodgaard is a senior research fellow emeritus at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI).
“In normal times, as it was before the supreme leader was killed, such a decision from the president would have been rooted with the supreme leader. And he, in turn, had control over the Revolutionary Guard.”
Warning to Europe
On Friday, Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi told France 24 that European countries would be “legitimate targets” for Iranian retaliation if they joined the war against Iran.
He stated that Iranian officials had negotiated with the US in great faith before the Trump administration decided to attack a week ago.
“We do not trust the Americans. They not only betrayed us but also betrayed diplomacy,” he said.
State Iranian media reported Saturday morning that large explosions occurred in several locations across the country, according to Reuters.
The Iranian news agency Tasnim, which has close ties to the IRGC, reported heavy airstrikes at Tehran’s Mehrabad International Airport.
Reports also emerged of explosions in Dubai and Manama.