Trump Escalates War, Targets More Areas in Iran

President Donald Trump said the US will consider striking areas and groups in Iran that were not previously targeted, escalating a week-long war that has upended energy markets and pushed prices higher worldwide, Arsalan Shahla and Kateryna Kadabashy reported for Bloomberg News.

The conciliatory language was not matched by actions, as Iran launched drones and missiles at Qatar and Bahrain while the United Arab Emirates said it continued to intercept incoming projectiles. (Photo: دولت جمهوری اسلامی ایران Ministry of Defense of the Islamic Republic of Iran X) 

“Today, Iran will be hit very hard!” Trump said in a social media post, as the US and Israel bombarded Tehran and other cities for an eighth day. The attacks will continue “until they surrender or, more likely, completely collapse!”

The post came after Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian vowed not to back down as Tehran maintained missile strikes on Israel and Gulf states hosting American military forces.

“The idea that we would surrender unconditionally — they must take such a dream to the grave,” he said in a speech.

Pezeshkian — who sits on the three-man interim leadership council after US and Israeli strikes killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Feb. 28 — said he had instructed the military not to attack any nation that was not striking the Islamic Republic.

He apologized to neighboring countries, calling them “our brothers,” though he did not name them.

The conciliatory language was not matched by actions, as Iran launched drones and missiles at Qatar and Bahrain while the United Arab Emirates said it continued to intercept incoming projectiles.

Kuwait, OPEC’s fifth-largest producer, has reduced oil and refinery production, citing the “ongoing aggression by the Islamic Republic of Iran.”