US President Donald Trump on Friday demanded Iran's "unconditional surrender" as the only acceptable outcome to end hostilities, while promising to help rebuild the country's economy if Tehran complied.

The post came as Israel bombarded regime targets in Tehran and Hezbollah positions in Beirut, and as Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said US strikes against Iran were "about to surge dramatically."

Trump, who has given varying reasons for starting the war that killed Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei last weekend, promised to help rebuild the country's economy if Tehran installed a new leader "acceptable" to him.

"There will be no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

The main US crude oil price – already surging with the critical energy waterway the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf effectively blocked – soared by 10 percent after Trump's comments.

The conflict has also expanded as far afield as the Sri Lankan coast, off of which a US submarine torpedoed an Iranian frigate, and Azerbaijan, which threatened retaliation after a drone hit an airport. (AFP)



Edited by Robert Kemp