U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday that Washington will not pursue negotiations with Iran to end the war, insisting instead that Tehran must offer an “unconditional surrender.”
Writing on his platform Truth Social, on the seventh day of the conflict, Trump said that after the war ends and a "great and acceptable" leadership is chosen in Tehran, the United States and its allies would begin rebuilding the country.
He suggested Iran could become "economically bigger, better, and stronger than ever before."
On Thursday, Trump had said that Iran’s air defences and missile capabilities had already been largely destroyed.
"Their anti aircraft weapons are gone. So they have no air force. They have no air defence. All of their airplanes are gone," he said in Washington.
He claimed that about 60% of Iran’s missiles and 64% of its launchers had been eliminated.
Trump's demands came after Israel's military said it had begun a new wave of strikes on targets in Iran.
The military described Friday's operation as the "15th wave of strikes," saying it was targeting infrastructure linked to Iran's leadership in Tehran and Isfahan.
In one operation, approximately 50 Israeli Air Force fighter jets, guided by "precise" intelligence, were used to destroy the underground military bunker of Iran’s slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei.
The underground complex is located beneath Iranian government buildings in central Tehran, an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman said, and senior members of Iran’s leadership had apparently continued to use the facility.
Khamenei was killed last Saturday during the opening salvo of Israeli and U.S. airstrikes on Iran.
Iran's armed forces said on Friday they had attacked a "U.S.-owned" oil tanker off the coast of Kuwait.
The vessel was hit and is on fire, state radio reported, citing the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, which assumes operational command of Iran’s armed forces during wartime.
Iranian state broadcaster IRIB and the Tasnim news agency, which is close to Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards, reported that more missiles had also been fired towards Israel.
More than 1,600 people have been treated in hospitals in Israel since the start of the war with Iran, the Israeli Health Ministry said.
The tally reportedly includes people wounded in rocket attacks, and also those injured while rushing to shelters and individuals treated for anxiety.
Much of Iran remains cut off from the global internet on the seventh day of the war, monitoring groups said on Friday.
NetBlocks, which tracks internet shutdowns, said that connectivity in the country was at about 1%, describing Iran as being in "digital darkness."
Data from the IT company Cloudflare also indicated a near-complete halt in internet traffic.
A small segment of Iran’s military and political establishment has continued to access the internet without restrictions. For years, a privileged group has used so-called "white SIM cards," which allow users to bypass government blocks and restrictions.
