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A man looks at a billboard featuring the portraits of Hassan Nasrallah, the slain former leader of Hezbollah, Iran's late president Ebrahim Raisi, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and Iran's slain commander Qasem Soleimani in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, on June 17, 2025.
"If new talks take place and Trump insists on capitulation, he will get war," warned one analyst. "Iran will pay an immeasurable price. As will the region. But the U.S. will also pay a very heavy price."
U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday demanded "unconditional surrender" from the Iranian government after threatening to order the assassination of the country's leader, an escalation of rhetoric that observers said could signal imminent American intervention in the increasingly deadly conflict that Israel, without provocation, started last week.
Trump wrote on his social media platform that "we know exactly where" Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, "is hiding."
"He is an easy target, but is safe there," the U.S. president continued. "We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now."
Minutes later, Trump wrote in a separate post, in all caps, "UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!"
Trump's use of "we" in his latest messaging on the war indicates that the president sees the U.S.—Israel's top ally and arms supplier—as a party to the conflict, a departure from his insistence just days earlier that the U.S. was "not involved."
"Trump's Iran war may destroy his presidency as Bush's Iraq invasion destroyed his. Iran will lose. But so will the U.S."
Citing unnamed U.S. officials, Axios reported Tuesday that Trump "is seriously considering joining the war and launching a U.S. strike against Iran's nuclear facilities, especially its underground uranium enrichment facility in Fordow."
The same outlet reported over the weekend that Israeli officials had been pressuring the Trump administration to wade into the conflict directly, claiming that Israel "lacks the bunker buster bombs and large bomber aircraft needed to destroy Iran's Fordow uranium enrichment site."
New polling indicates that a U.S. military attack on Iran would be deeply unpopular with American voters, including those who supported Trump in 2024.
Trita Parsi, co-founder and executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, warned Tuesday that Trump now appears "determined to take the country to a war of choice."
"If new talks take place and Trump insists on capitulation, he will get war," Parsi wrote. "Iran will pay an immeasurable price. As will the region. But the U.S. will also pay a very heavy price. Scores of American soldiers may be killed. Oil prices will skyrocket, and gas prices in hot summer months in the U.S. will soar. Inflation will go up."
"Trump's Iran war may destroy his presidency as Bush's Iraq invasion destroyed his," Parsi added. "Iran will lose. But so will the U.S. Israel is perhaps the only country that will benefit from this war of choice."
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday demanded "unconditional surrender" from the Iranian government after threatening to order the assassination of the country's leader, an escalation of rhetoric that observers said could signal imminent American intervention in the increasingly deadly conflict that Israel, without provocation, started last week.
Trump wrote on his social media platform that "we know exactly where" Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, "is hiding."
"He is an easy target, but is safe there," the U.S. president continued. "We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now."
Minutes later, Trump wrote in a separate post, in all caps, "UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!"
Trump's use of "we" in his latest messaging on the war indicates that the president sees the U.S.—Israel's top ally and arms supplier—as a party to the conflict, a departure from his insistence just days earlier that the U.S. was "not involved."
"Trump's Iran war may destroy his presidency as Bush's Iraq invasion destroyed his. Iran will lose. But so will the U.S."
Citing unnamed U.S. officials, Axios reported Tuesday that Trump "is seriously considering joining the war and launching a U.S. strike against Iran's nuclear facilities, especially its underground uranium enrichment facility in Fordow."
The same outlet reported over the weekend that Israeli officials had been pressuring the Trump administration to wade into the conflict directly, claiming that Israel "lacks the bunker buster bombs and large bomber aircraft needed to destroy Iran's Fordow uranium enrichment site."
New polling indicates that a U.S. military attack on Iran would be deeply unpopular with American voters, including those who supported Trump in 2024.
Trita Parsi, co-founder and executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, warned Tuesday that Trump now appears "determined to take the country to a war of choice."
"If new talks take place and Trump insists on capitulation, he will get war," Parsi wrote. "Iran will pay an immeasurable price. As will the region. But the U.S. will also pay a very heavy price. Scores of American soldiers may be killed. Oil prices will skyrocket, and gas prices in hot summer months in the U.S. will soar. Inflation will go up."
"Trump's Iran war may destroy his presidency as Bush's Iraq invasion destroyed his," Parsi added. "Iran will lose. But so will the U.S. Israel is perhaps the only country that will benefit from this war of choice."
U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday demanded "unconditional surrender" from the Iranian government after threatening to order the assassination of the country's leader, an escalation of rhetoric that observers said could signal imminent American intervention in the increasingly deadly conflict that Israel, without provocation, started last week.
Trump wrote on his social media platform that "we know exactly where" Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, "is hiding."
"He is an easy target, but is safe there," the U.S. president continued. "We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now."
Minutes later, Trump wrote in a separate post, in all caps, "UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!"
Trump's use of "we" in his latest messaging on the war indicates that the president sees the U.S.—Israel's top ally and arms supplier—as a party to the conflict, a departure from his insistence just days earlier that the U.S. was "not involved."
"Trump's Iran war may destroy his presidency as Bush's Iraq invasion destroyed his. Iran will lose. But so will the U.S."
Citing unnamed U.S. officials, Axios reported Tuesday that Trump "is seriously considering joining the war and launching a U.S. strike against Iran's nuclear facilities, especially its underground uranium enrichment facility in Fordow."
The same outlet reported over the weekend that Israeli officials had been pressuring the Trump administration to wade into the conflict directly, claiming that Israel "lacks the bunker buster bombs and large bomber aircraft needed to destroy Iran's Fordow uranium enrichment site."
New polling indicates that a U.S. military attack on Iran would be deeply unpopular with American voters, including those who supported Trump in 2024.
Trita Parsi, co-founder and executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, warned Tuesday that Trump now appears "determined to take the country to a war of choice."
"If new talks take place and Trump insists on capitulation, he will get war," Parsi wrote. "Iran will pay an immeasurable price. As will the region. But the U.S. will also pay a very heavy price. Scores of American soldiers may be killed. Oil prices will skyrocket, and gas prices in hot summer months in the U.S. will soar. Inflation will go up."
"Trump's Iran war may destroy his presidency as Bush's Iraq invasion destroyed his," Parsi added. "Iran will lose. But so will the U.S. Israel is perhaps the only country that will benefit from this war of choice."