United States President Donald Trump has demanded Iran’s “unconditional surrender” as war in the Middle East entered its second week on Saturday, March 7, 2026, with uncertainty growing about when hostilities will end.
Trump’s comments came hours after Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian posted on social media that unnamed countries had begun mediation efforts, briefly raising hopes of a resolution a week after the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran.
“There will be no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Friday.
“After that, and the selection of a GREAT & ACCEPTABLE Leader(s), we, and many of our wonderful and very brave allies and partners, will work tirelessly to bring Iran back from the brink of destruction, making it economically bigger, better, and stronger than ever before,” he added.
Trump has offered shifting explanations of his war aims, raising the possibility of an extended conflict that has already spilled well beyond Iran’s borders, shaken global financial markets and sent oil prices soaring.
Iran has responded by hitting Israel and multiple Gulf states that host U.S. military installations.
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.
Iranian attacks have killed 11 people in Israel, and at least six U.S. service members have been killed.
Early on Saturday, missiles were seen flying towards Israel as the Israeli military said it had identified missiles launched from Iran towards Israel. Explosions could be heard as Israeli defences activated to shoot down incoming Iranian fire.
Shortly after the barrage, the Israeli army said it had begun a wave of strikes targeting infrastructure in the capital Tehran.
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Israel also attacked neighbouring Lebanon, where it said it was hitting Iranian and Hezbollah targets, Reuters reported.
Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport was struck, while landings resumed at Dubai International Airport, according to aviation-tracking website Flightradar24.
On Friday, Israel said 50 of its warplanes had hit a bunker in Iran still being used by its leadership beneath slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s destroyed Tehran compound.
Israel has expanded the war in Lebanon, pounding Beirut on Friday after ordering an unprecedented evacuation of the capital’s entire southern suburbs.
Israel said its bombing in Lebanon aims to root out Hezbollah, the Shi’ite militia that has been a dominant faction in Lebanese politics since the 1980s.
Hezbollah fired on Israel this week to avenge the killing of Khamenei on the war’s first day.
About 300,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon in the past four days, according to the Norwegian Refugee Council. The Lebanese health ministry has reported 123 people killed and 683 wounded as a result of Israeli attacks.
European and U.S. stocks tumbled on Friday, while oil prices hit multi-year highs, with the Strait of Hormuz effectively shut. About one-fifth of global oil moves daily through the strait.
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