'Too Late!': Trump rejects Iran talks as Middle East conflict intensifies

Trump rejects talks as war widens

US President Donald Trump declared that it was “too late” for talks with Iran, insisting the country’s military structure had been dismantled as the Middle East conflict entered its fourth day.

“Their air defense, Air Force, Navy, and Leadership is gone. They want to talk. I said ‘Too Late!’” Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social, signalling Washington’s refusal to de-escalate after US and Israeli strikes over the weekend killed Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

As explosions echoed across Tehran overnight, AFP reported powerful blasts shaking windows while fighter jets flew over the capital. The Pentagon said it had achieved air superiority over Iran, which has been ruled by Islamic clerics since 1979.

Trump indicated the campaign could extend well beyond initial expectations. “From the beginning we projected four to five weeks, but we have capability to go far longer than that,” he said at the White House, adding that operations were progressing “substantially” ahead of schedule.

He also acknowledged pressure on US weapons reserves as munitions were deployed in large quantities. “At the highest end, we have a good supply, but are not where we want to be,” he wrote on Truth Social, while stressing that the United States had sufficient “medium and upper medium grade” weapons. “Wars can be fought ‘forever,’ and very successfully, using just these supplies (which are better than other countries finest arms!),” he added.

The conflict widened as Tehran retaliated across the Gulf. Two drones struck the US embassy in Riyadh, causing what the mission described as “a limited fire and minor material damage”. Saudi Arabia said it intercepted additional drones over two cities. Speaking to NewsNation, Trump said “you’ll find out soon” how Washington would respond.

Iran also threatened maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. “We will burn any ship that tries to pass through the Strait of Hormuz,” Revolutionary Guards General Sardar Jabbari warned, referring to the strategic waterway that carries roughly a fifth of global seaborne oil. Qatar said it shot down two Iranian bombers after missile and drone attacks forced its state energy firm to halt liquefied natural gas production.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington acted “pre-emptively” after learning Israel was preparing to strike Iran, arguing that Tehran would otherwise have targeted American forces. “The imminent threat was that we knew that if Iran was attacked — and we believed they would be attacked — that they would immediately come after us,” he said.

Iran’s foreign minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi rejected that account, saying “there was never any so-called Iranian ‘threat’.” “Mr. Rubio admitted what we all knew: U.S. has entered a war of choice on behalf of Israel’,” he posted on X.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said joint operations would continue but “not become an endless war”, adding: “It may take some time, but it's not going to take years.”

Despite earlier campaign promises to end US involvement in foreign wars, Trump has refused to rule out deploying ground troops “if they were necessary,” underscoring the scale and uncertainty of the expanding conflict.