President Donald Trump said Thursday that Iran’s remaining leaders are “begging” the United States for a deal after persistent strikes that killed much of the nation’s senior leadership, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and severely degraded Iran’s missile capacity.
Firm Warnings and Offers of Asylum
He said Iran was seeking negotiations but declared it was too late for a deal on current terms, adding that the United States has “the most powerful army in the world.”
Trump warned Iranian leadership to “Lay down your arms or face absolute guaranteed death” and called for immediate surrender.
He also called on all Iranian diplomats to defect and seek asylum and promised immunity to those who do.
He added, “You’ll be perfectly safe, or you’ll face guaranteed death,” and urged the Iranian people to take back their country.
Operational Update from CENTCOM
The remarks came amid the fourth day of Operation Epic Fury as U.S. forces reported continued degradation of Iranian military assets.
Earlier in the day, War Secretary Pete Hegseth, speaking from U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) headquarters in Tampa, Florida, indicated that operations were proceeding “ahead of schedule.”
The remarks came after The Times of Israel reported that Israeli operations were expected to continue for one or two more weeks.
Hegseth dismissed claims of ammunition and interceptor shortages as inaccurate and said the military can “sustain the fight for as long as it takes.”
CENTCOM commander Admiral Brad Cooper said the next phase will focus on “systemically dismantling Iran’s missile production capability” and that the mission is underway but will take time.
He added that in the last 72 hours America’s bomber force struck nearly 200 targets deep inside Iran, including around Tehran, and that B-2 bombers dropped “dozens of 2,000-pound penetrators” against deeply buried ballistic missile launchers.
Both leaders said Iranian drone and missile capacity has declined by 90 percent since combat operations began on February 28.
