U.S. President Donald Trump demanded Iran's "unconditional surrender" on Friday, a dramatic escalation one week into the war he launched alongside Israelthat could make it more difficult to negotiate a swift end to hostilities, Reuters reported.
Trump made the remarks on social media just hours after Iran's president announced that unspecified countries had begun mediation efforts, one of the first signals of a diplomatic initiative to end the conflict, as Israel launched fresh attacks on Iran and Lebanon and Iran sent missiles into Israel and Gulf states that host U.S. military bases.
There will be no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!" Trump wrote. "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."
Trump's demand, and the likelihood that it would complicate any quick path to ending a conflict that has interrupted global energy supplies, rattled financial markets. European and U.S. stock indexes finished the day sharply lower, and oil futures hit their highest prices since 2023, as the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz has constrained the flow of energy supplies
Trump had told Reuters in a telephone interview on Thursday that he must have a say in selecting Iran's new supreme leader to replace Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, killed on the war's first day.
A White House spokeswoman said consideration was already underway.
"I know there's a number of people that our intelligence agencies and the United States government are looking at," Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Friday.
Iran's U.N. ambassador, Amir Saeid Iravani, told reporters on Friday that new leadership would be chosen "in accordance with our constitutional procedures and solely by the will of the Iranian people - without any foreign interference."
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