President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that the only deal he will make with Tehran is for Iran’s unconditional surrender.
“There will be no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!” the President wrote on his social media account Friday. After that, and the selection of a GREAT & ACCEPTABLE Leader(s), we, and many of our wonderful and very brave allies and partners, will work tirelessly to bring Iran back from the brink of destruction, making it economically bigger, better, and stronger than ever before. IRAN WILL HAVE A GREAT FUTURE.”
The statement from Trump suggests the goal for the war in Iran has moved beyond eliminating Iran’s nuclear program and military capabilities to regime change and nation-building. As a candidate, the President was a stalwart opponent of regime change wars and nation-building projects.
While House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt later appeared to walk back the President’s demands, saying that he will not require a formal surrender. “When he determines Iran no longer poses a threat to the US and Operation Epic Fury has been fully realized, then Iran will essentially be in a place of unconditional surrender, whether they say it themselves or not,” she explained to the press.
Leavitt defines what Trump considers “unconditional surrender”:
“When he determines Iran no longer poses a threat to the US and Operation Epic Fury has been fully realized, then Iran will essentially be in a place of unconditional surrender whether they say it themselves or not” pic.twitter.com/mvom48wlqW
— The American Conservative (@amconmag) March 6, 2026
Forcing a full surrender on Iran could require months of military operations and a ground invasion. Trump has made clear he is open to deploying military forces to Iran, and the Pentagon is preparing for the conflict to last through September.
Tehran says it is uninterested in a ceasefire or further negotiations with the US. “We are not asking for a ceasefire. And we don’t see any reason why we should negotiate with the US. When we negotiated with [the US] twice, and every time they attacked us in the middle of negotiations,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told NBC News on Thursday. “There is no request for a ceasefire from us, there is no request for negotiations from us, we have never sent any messages.”
He went on to say that Iran is prepared for a ground war with the US. Israel and the US attacked Iran on Saturday, and Iranian forces responded by striking Israel, US military bases, and other US allies in the region.
