Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Wednesday that his country “will never surrender,” after six days of aerial war with Israel that has the US eyeing its own strikes.
America will face “irreparable damage” if its military intervenes, Khamenei said in an address, a day after US President Donald Trump demanded Iran’s “unconditional surrender.”
Trump later on Wednesday said his patience had “already run out,” while the US ambassador to Israel said US citizens would be offered opportunities to evacuate the country.
The tense exchange comes as Washington seems increasingly receptive to joining Israel’s attacks on Iran.
Crucially, the US is the only country known to possess powerful “bunker-buster” bombs and the warplanes needed to carry them, which may be capable of destroying Iran’s deeply buried nuclear facilities.