Trump calls Iran 'totally defeated' and Tehran threatens to reduce US-linked oil sites 'to ashes'

President Donald Trump said Saturday that he is not willing to reach a deal to end the war with Iran at this time. “Iran wants to make a deal, and I don’t want to make it because the terms aren’t good enough yet,” the Republican president said during an interview with NBC, adding that any conditions would have to be “very solid.”

When asked what the terms of a potential agreement to end the war would be, the president responded: “I don’t want to say that to you.” However, he agreed that a commitment from Iran to completely abandon any nuclear ambitions would be part of it.

Trump also questioned whether Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is still alive after the ayatollah did not appear on camera to deliver his first message as the country’s leader on Thursday. “I don’t know if he’s even alive. So far, nobody’s been able to show him. I’m hearing he’s not alive, and if he is, he should do something very smart for his country, and that’s surrender,” Trump said.

On Saturday, President Donald Trump called on other countries to send ships to help protect the Strait of Hormuz, a key passage for global oil supplies that has been affected by the conflict in the Middle East.

The president, who had announced that the U.S. would soon begin escorting oil tankers through the strait, published on Truth Social: "Many Countries, especially those who are affected by Iran’s attempted closure of the Hormuz Strait, will be sending War Ships, in conjunction with the United States of America, to keep the Strait open and safe."

In that regard, he added that "Hopefully China, France, Japan, South Korea, the UK, and others, that are affected by this artificial constraint, will send Ships to the area."

As reported by Iran's Fars news agency on Saturday, no oil facilities on the strategic island of Kharg, Iran's main crude export hub in the Gulf, were damaged after the U.S. strikes.

Donald Trump had explained that military facilities on the island had been "completely destroyed" in the strikes.

15 explosions were heard during this attack, but "no oil infrastructure was damaged," Fars news agency wrote, citing unnamed sources on the ground.

The attack "caused no casualties among military personnel, company employees or island residents," the agency cited by AFP added.

AFP reporters reported several explosions in Jerusalem on Saturday, after the Israeli army said it had detected missile launches from Iran.

The army "has identified missiles launched from Iran toward the territory of the State of Israel," a military statement said, specifying that anti-aircraft defense systems had been activated to intercept the "threat."

The U.S. embassy in Baghdad was hit by an attack Saturday after bombings that killed three members of a powerful Iranian-backed group in the capital, according to security sources quoted by AFP.

A cloud of black smoke rose over the U.S. diplomatic mission shortly after explosions were heard early Saturday morning, a French agency reporter reported.

Two security officials told AFP that the embassy compound was hit by a drone.
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​The U.S. embassy did not immediately respond to request for comment on the incident.
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​It is the second time the U.S. embassy has come under attack in Baghdad since the start of the war.

The war in the Middle East entered its third week on Saturday and, according to Israel, it is going through a "decisive phase" as it continues alongside the United States bombing raids on Iran, which responds by attacking strategic infrastructure in the Gulf.


"We are entering the decisive phase of the conflict(...) Only the Iranian people can put an end to this through a determined fight," Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Saturday in remarks reported by AFP.

French President Emmanuel Macron thanked the Iraqi government on Saturday for the measures taken to protect French troops after a soldier was killed in a drone attack in Iraqi Kurdistan.

In a message posted on X, the president explained that on Friday he met with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al Sudani, who expressed his condolences for the soldier's death.

"I thank you for your commitment to clarify this attack and reinforce the protection measures for our forces, who are in Iraq to fight, alongside the Iraqis, against the scourge of terrorism," Macron posted.

"We will continue to coordinate and work for the stability and sovereignty of the country, as well as for détente in the region," he sentenced.

Thursday night, an Iranian-made drone attack in the Erbil region left six French soldiers wounded and cost the life of Warrant Officer Arnaud Frion, who succumbed to his wounds.

Columns of thick black smoke billowed Saturday over a major oil facility in the United Arab Emirates, an AFP reporter said, apparently as a result of a new attack on Gulf energy infrastructure.

The smoke was coming from Fuyaira, home to a strategic port that has already been the target of Iranian attacks targeting an oil storage and trading center.

The port is also home to one of the country's main crude oil export terminals.

The Iranian Armed Forces warned Saturday that they consider United Arab Emirates ports as legitimate targets and called on the population to stay away from them, on the 15th day of the conflict initiated by Israel and the United States.

"We inform the Emirati leadership that the Islamic Republic of Iran considers it a legitimate right to defend its national sovereignty and its territory by attacking with missiles the U.S. enemy targets situated in the ports, docks and hideouts of the U.S. military" in the Emirates, the Khatam al Anbiya joint command center said, quoted by AFP.

The text, broadcast on public television, urged the population to "evacuate" these areas.