TEHRAN – Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei flatly rejected on June 18 US President Donald Trump’s demand for an “unconditional surrender”, warning that American intervention to help its ally Israel would have “serious irreparable consequences”.

The speech came six days into the conflict, with Mr Trump demanding Iran’s “unconditional surrender” while boasting the United States could kill Mr Khamenei and fuelling speculation about a possible intervention.

The long-range blitz began June 13, when Israel launched a massive bombing campaign that prompted Iran to respond with missiles and drones.

“Let the Americans know that the Iranian nation is not one to surrender, and any military intervention on their part will undoubtedly result in serious, irreparable consequences,” Mr Khamenei said in a televised national address.

“Those who are wise and familiar with Iran, its people, and its history never speak to this nation in the language of threats,” he warned.

Mr Khamenei, in power since 1989 and the final arbiter of all matters of state in Iran, had earlier vowed the country would show “no mercy” towards Israel’s leaders.

The speech followed a night of strikes, with Israeli attacks destroying 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 were hit.

“As part of the broad effort to disrupt Iran’s nuclear weapons development programme, a centrifuge production facility in Tehran was targeted.”

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.

No missile struck Tel Aviv overnight, though AFP photos showed Israel’s air defence systems activated to intercept missiles over the commercial hub.

Iran also sent a “swarm of drones” towards Israel, while the Israeli military said it had intercepted a total of 10 drones launched from Iran.

It said one of its own drones had been shot down over Iran.

‘Unconditional surrender’

Mr Trump fuelled speculation about American intervention when he made a hasty exit from the G-7 summit in Canada, where the leaders of the club of wealthy democracies jointly called for a ceasefire.

Back in Washington on June 17, Mr Trump demanded the Islamic republic’s “unconditional surrender”.

He also boasted that the US could easily assassinate Iran’s supreme leader.

“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,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.

He met his National Security Council to discuss the conflict, ending after an hour and 20 minutes with no immediate public statement.

While he has repeatedly vowed to avoid wading into the “forever wars” of the Middle East, Mr Trump ordered the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier to the region along with a number of US military aircraft.

US officials stressed he has not yet made a decision about any intervention.

Iran’s Ambassador to the United Nations Ali Bahreini said Iran “will not show any reluctance in defending our people, security and land”.

“We will respond seriously and strongly, without restraint,” he told reporters.

Mr Bahreini called Mr Trump’s remarks “completely unwarranted and very hostile”.

“We cannot ignore them,” he said. “We are vigilant about what Trump is saying. We will put it in our calculations and assessments.”

Mr Esmail Baghaei, a spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, warned that any US intervention would be “a recipe for an all-out war in the region”, telling Al Jazeera English that such a move “would be extremely reckless, extremely irresponsible”.

He also suggested that Iran remained open to a negotiated solution.

“Diplomacy never ends,” he said, adding that amid the fighting, “our diplomacy is at work”.

Mr Trump insists Washington has played no part in ally Israel’s bombing campaign, but also warned Iran his patience was wearing thin as the conflict entered a sixth day.

Evacuations

Israel’s attacks have hit nuclear and military facilities around Iran, as well as residential areas.

Residential areas in Israel have also been hit, and foreign governments have scrambled to evacuate their citizens from both countries.

Many Israelis spent another night disrupted by air raid warnings, with residents of coastal hub Tel Aviv repeatedly heading for shelters when sirens rang out warning of incoming Iranian missiles.

In the West Bank city of Ramallah, perched at 800m above sea level and with a view over Tel Aviv, some residents gathered on rooftops and balconies to watch.

An AFP journalist reported cheers and whistles as dozens of missiles flew overhead, with Israeli air defences activating to intercept them, causing mid-air explosions which lit up the sky.

Since June 13, at least 24 people have been killed in Israel and hundreds wounded, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.

Iran said on June 15 that Israeli strikes had killed at least 224 people, including military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians. It has not issued an updated toll since then.

On June 17 in Tehran, long queues stretched outside bakeries and petrol stations as people rushed to stock up on fuel and basic supplies.

Iran’s ISNA and Tasnim news agencies on June 18 reported that five suspected agents of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency had been detained, on charges of tarnishing the country’s image online.

Nuclear facilities

After decades of enmity and a prolonged shadow war, Israel said its surprise air campaign was aimed at preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, an ambition Tehran denies.

Iranian media reported several explosions on June 17 in the central city of Isfahan, home to nuclear facilities.

The UN’s nuclear watchdog said there appeared to have been “direct impacts on the underground enrichment halls” at Iran’s Natanz facility.

Israel has maintained ambiguity regarding its own atomic activities, but the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute says it has 90 nuclear warheads.

The conflict derailed a running series of nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington, with Iran saying after the start of Israel’s campaign that it would not negotiate with the US while under attack. AFP