Trump rejects settling war with Iran, raises notion of eliminating all its potential leaders

BEIRUT/MIAMI/TEL AVIV/DUBAI - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday (Sunday, Philippine time) he is not interested in negotiating with Iran and raised the possibility that the Iran war would only end once that country no longer has a functioning military or any remaining leadership in power.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said the air campaign could make negotiations a moot point if all potential leaders of Iran are killed and the Iranian military is destroyed.

"At some point, I don't think there will be anybody left maybe to say 'We surrender,'" Trump said.

Israel and Iran traded numerous attacks on Saturday as the Middle East war entered a second week. Iran's president apologised to neighbouring states to cool anger across the Gulf but stirred criticism from hardliners at home.

"I personally apologise to neighbouring countries that were affected by Iran's actions," Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said, urging them not to join U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran.

He dismissed Trump's demand for the Islamic Republic's unconditional surrender as "a dream", but said its temporary leadership council had agreed to suspend attacks on nearby states unless strikes on Iran originated from their territory.

Trump nonetheless cast Iran's apology as a surrender and warned the U.S. could widen its attacks.

Amid possible divisions within Iran's leadership over Pezeshkian's remarks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a televised address, said any Iranian Revolutionary Guards who lay down their arms would be unharmed.

Ali Ardashir Larijani, Iran's secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, said on state television there was no rift among Iranian officials over its handling of the war.

Saudi Arabia has told Tehran that while it favours a diplomatic settlement, continued Iranian attacks on the kingdom and its energy sector could push Riyadh to respond in kind, four sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Iran says it targeted U.S. bases

Pezeshkian's comments caused a political stir in Iran, prompting his office to reiterate Iran's military would respond firmly to attacks from U.S. bases in the region.

Hours later, the president repeated his statement on social media but left out the apology from his speech that had angered hardliners, including the powerful Revolutionary Guards.

Hamid Rasai, a hardline cleric and lawmaker, wrote on X: "Mr Pezeshkian, your stance was unprofessional, weak and unacceptable."

The judiciary chief, Mohseni-Ejei, a hardline member of the three-man council temporarily holding the powers of supreme leader, said the territory of some regional countries was being used for attacks against Iran, and retaliatory strikes would continue.

Hours after Pezeshkian's announcement, Iran's Revolutionary Guards said their drones struck a U.S. air combat centre at Al Dhafra Air Base near Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates. Reuters could not independently verify that report.

Late into the night, Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had targeted an Israeli refinery, according to state media. Air raid sirens sounded in the Haifa area, but there were no reports of destruction. The Kuwaiti army said on Saturday that fuel storage tanks belonging to Kuwait International Airport were targeted in a drone attack.

There were reports of rockets targeting the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, security sources and witnesses said. Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani ordered his security forces to pursue those responsible, according to a statement.

In Iran, local news agencies, citing an Iranian Oil Ministry source, said its fuel depots were hit by strikes in three areas, including Karaj, west of Tehran.

The Revolutionary Guards also targeted U.S. forces at a base in Bahrain, Iranian state media said. Blasts were also heard in Doha, a Reuters witness said.

Tehran has responded to the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran by hitting Israel and Gulf Arab states hosting U.S. military installations. Israel has launched fresh attacks in Lebanon after the Iran-aligned militia Hezbollah fired across the border.

The UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Iraq have all reported drone or missile attacks over the past week.

Israel warns Lebanon to rein in Hezbollah

With the conflict spreading, Israel warned Lebanon of a "very heavy price" if it did not rein in Hezbollah, as it pounded the group's strongholds with airstrikes and mounted a deadly airborne raid in the east.

On Saturday morning, more buildings in the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs of Beirut had been reduced to mounds of smoking rubble, dust and tangled wires, Reuters video showed.

The death toll from Israel's attacks on Lebanon since Monday rose to 294, the Lebanese health ministry said.

The U.S.-Israeli attacks have killed at least 1,332 Iranian civilians and wounded thousands, according to Iran's U.N. ambassador, Amir Saeid Iravani. Huge explosions were heard in parts of Tehran, state media reported, while Israel said it had struck Iranian missile sites and command centres.

Iranian attacks have killed 10 people in Israel.

Larijani said there were reports that American soldiers have been captured, but U.S. Central Command said no U.S. service members have been taken prisoner.

At least six U.S. service members have been killed. Their remains arrived on Saturday at an Air Force base in Delaware.

Iran's apparent strategy of maximum chaos has driven up the costs of the conflict by raising energy prices and hurting global business and logistics links.

Kuwait's national oil company began cutting output on Saturday, adding to earlier oil and gas cuts from Iraq and Qatar.

The war has roiled global markets and oil prices have hit multi-year highs with the Strait of Hormuz effectively shut.

Hardline clerics have called for the swift selection of a new supreme leader, Iranian media reported on Saturday, with meetings occurring as soon as Sunday.

Ayatollah Hossein Mozafari, one of the 88-member Assembly of Experts, the clerical body charged with choosing the next leader, was quoted as saying the assembly could meet in the next 24 hours to decide. —Reuters