Trump says US won't kill Iran's supreme leader, 'at least not for now'
President Donald Trump said the U.S. knows where Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is, but won't kill him "at least not for now."
He threatened Iran's supreme leader with assassination, pushed Tehran to end retaliatory airstrikes on Israel and warned against any threats to U.S. servicemembers in the region.
"We know exactly where the so-called “Supreme Leader” is hiding. He is an easy target, but is safe there - We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now. But we don’t want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers. Our patience is wearing thin. Thank you for your attention to this matter!" Trump said in the post.
On June 15, Trump rejected an Israeli plan to kill Ali Khamenei, a senior U.S. official told Paste BN. The U.S. official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive talks, confirmed that Israel was presented with an opportunity to kill Khamenei but Trump objected to the plan and steered it off.
Trump was asked June 16 he wanted to see regime change in Iran, and replied: "I want to see no nuclear weapon in Iran, and we're well on our way to making sure that happens."
When Israel began striking Iran's nuclear facilities last week, the White House stressed that the United States was not involved, issuing a statement from Secretary of State Marco Rubio that Israel had carried out the strikes unilaterally.
But in a series of social media posts June 17, Trump indicated the US was involved all along. He said "we" have control of the skies and "American made, conceived, and manufactured “stuff”" was used to defeat Iranian defensive equipment.
After the threat to the supreme leader, Trump demanded in a separate post “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!”
Early on June 17, Trump denied reports he had contact with Tehran seeking an end to the five-day Iran-Israel conflict, after earlier suggesting he was working toward a broad Iran nuclear deal.
""If they want to talk, they know how to reach me. They should have taken the deal that was on the table - Would have saved a lot of lives!!!" he posted.