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HomeWorld'I may do it, I may not': Trump on Iran strikes, claims Tehran reached out to negotiate

'I may do it, I may not': Trump on Iran strikes, claims Tehran reached out to negotiate

Donald Trump had stepped up his rhetoric, saying on Tuesday that the United States knows where Khamenei is located but will not kill him "for now".

June 18, 2025 / 20:12 IST
US President Donald Trump - File Photo

President Donald Trump left the question of whether the United States will join Israeli strikes on Iran up in the air Wednesday, as he said that Tehran had reached out to seek negotiations.

"I may do it, I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I'm going to do," Trump told reporters as he supervised the installation of a new flagpole on the White House South Lawn.

Trump's remarks come shortly after Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said his nation would "never surrender", while warning Israel's ally, the United States it would suffer "irreparable damage" if it intervenes in the conflict.

"This nation will never surrender," Khamenei said in a speech read on state television. "America should know that any military intervention will undoubtedly result in irreparable damage."

US President Donald Trump had stepped up his rhetoric, saying on Tuesday that the United States knows where Khamenei is located but will not kill him "for now".

Earlier, Israeli attacks destroyed two buildings making centrifuge components for Iran's nuclear programme near Tehran, according to the UN nuclear watchdog.

"More than 50 Israeli Air Force fighter jets... carried out a series of air strikes in the Tehran area over the past few hours," the Israeli military said, adding that several weapons manufacturing facilities and a centrifuge production site were hit.

Centrifuges are vital for uranium enrichment, the sensitive process that can produce fuel for reactors or, in highly extended form, the core of a nuclear warhead.

The strikes destroyed two buildings making centrifuge components for Iran's nuclear programme in Karaj, a satellite city of Tehran, the International Atomic Energy Agency said.

In another strike on a site in Tehran, "one building was hit where advanced centrifuge rotors were manufactured and tested", the agency added in a post on X.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had launched hypersonic Fattah-1 missiles at Tel Aviv.

Hypersonic missiles travel at more than five times the speed of sound and can manoeuvre mid-flight, making them harder to track and intercept.

Moneycontrol World Desk
first published: Jun 18, 2025 07:57 pm

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