"An Easy Target... At Least for Now, We Will Not Remove Him"
Maximum Pressure on Iran Raised to the Highest Level
U.S. President Donald Trump has called for Iran's "unconditional surrender," warning that he knows the whereabouts of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. By even mentioning the possibility of targeting the Supreme Leader, Trump is seen as raising the pressure on Iran to its highest level.
On June 17 (local time), President Trump posted on his own social networking service, Truth Social, saying, "We know exactly where the so-called 'Supreme Leader' is hiding. He is an easy target, but he will be safe there. At least for now, we will not remove (kill!) him."
He added, "Our patience is running very thin," and shortly after, in another post, wrote, "Surrender unconditionally!"
In another post, President Trump stated, "We now have complete and total control over Iranian airspace," warning, "Iran has excellent aerial tracking equipment and other defensive gear, but it cannot compare to equipment designed and manufactured in the United States."
Notably, he referred to the entity controlling Iranian airspace as "we," which is interpreted as meaning that the United States has supported Israel in securing air superiority over Iran.
It has been reported that President Trump is considering providing Israel with decisive weapons, such as bunker busters capable of directly striking Iran's underground nuclear facilities. President Trump's remarks on this day came as he returned early from Canada, moving up his schedule for the Group of Seven (G7) summit by one day. The international community is now closely watching whether the United States, together with Israel, will move to end Iran's Islamic theocracy through regime change. There is growing attention as Trump's statements could be interpreted as a decision to support Israeli attacks on Iran.
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