Tehran continues to be hit by a missile barrage (Image: Getty)
Iran is still being pounded by Israeli and American missiles as US President Donald Trump repeated his vow to erase the tyrannical regime.
A fresh wave of “significant” attacks targeted fuel storage compounds in Tehran used to feed its war machine.
Israel said the strikes were the latest effort to “deepen the damage to the military infrastructure of the Iranian terrorist regime » adding it will “continue to operate with determination in order to significantly degrade the regime’s capabilities”.
President Trump said he has no interest in negotiating with Iran whose so-called Assembly of Experts, a cabal of 88 Islamic scholars all selected for their loyalty to the regime, met to elect a new leader one week after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 86, was assassinated at the start of Operation Epic Fury. An announcement is expected imminently.
Iran refers to the US as The Great Satan and President Trump suggested the war would only end once Tehran had no functioning military or remaining leadership in power, saying: « At some point I don’t think there will be anybody left maybe to say ‘We surrender’”.
Israel also doubled down on its promise to pursue the Iranian regime, issuing a chilling warning in which it said: « We want to tell you that the hand of the State of Israel will continue to pursue every successor and every person who seeks to appoint a successor.
« We warn all those who intend to participate in the successor selection meeting that we will not hesitate to target you either.”
Trump said ‘at some point I don’t think there will be anybody left to say ‘we surrender’ (Image: Getty)
Satellite data showed four oil facilities on the outskirts of Tehran were blown up with precision bombing that triggered huge explosions that ignited a “river of fire” through the capital.
Asked whether the US would send soldiers into Iraq President Trump said a deployment “would be a great thing” but added: “Right now, we’re just decimating them.
“There would have to be a very good reason. I would say if we ever did that they would be so decimated that they wouldn’t be able to fight at the ground level.”
His bombastic words come as Sir Tony Blair scolded Sir Keir Starmer for Britain’s lack of support for the US-Israel led war saying: “We should have backed America from the very beginning.”
The former prime minister’s legacy has been defined by his decision to join the American invasion of Iraq in 2003 after it was believed Saddam Hussein possessed Weapons of Mass Destruction.
In a withering assessment of the indecision and dither that has seen Britain sit the war out – and initially refuse permission for the US to fly bombing raids from bases in the UK – Sir Tony told a recent Jewish News event: “I am not saying anything that I haven’t already said to the government…I think we should have backed America from the very beginning.
“We have got to be very clear about this as a country. We’re depending on the American alliance for our country. They are not just an ally, they are an indispensable ally, right?
“Every single time you test an alliance you never test it when things are easy. You test it when it’s hard. They were asking to use our bases to refuel… it’s not like it was in Vietnam… not like the Iraq campaign where we had thousands of British troops.
“The American relationship matters. It matters particularly today. It’s not a question of whether it’s this president or that president. If they are your ally and they are an indispensable cornerstone for your security… you had better show up.”
A total of 179 British Armed Forces personnel died in Iraq between the start of the campaign in March 2003 and the end of operations.
The week-old war has widened into a global crisis, spreading to 14 countries and plunging the Middle East into turmoil.
Israel has ratcheted up its offensive on Lebanon, launching airstrikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut, while Iran has lashed out at nations in the region in retaliation.
Hundreds of missiles and drones have been fired at targets in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar, leaving hundreds of thousands stranded in the Gulf.
Meanwhile an Iranian drone that hit RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus was equipped with Russian military hardware, reports suggest.
The strategic base was struck by an unmanned aerial vehicle fired from Lebanon last Sunday and it is understood to have contained a Russian-made Kometa-B navigation system.
The technology was first seen in drones intercepted by Ukrainian air defences in December.
Components recovered by British military intelligence have been sent to a laboratory in the UK for forensic examination.
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