Trump: Iran has surrendered, no longer the 'bully' in the Middle East

Moscow (ANTARA) – United States President Donald Trump claimed that Iran had apologised to its neighbouring countries in the Middle East and promised not to attack them again after facing sustained attacks by the United States and Israel. ‘Iran, which is being hammered, has apologised and surrendered to its neighbouring Middle Eastern countries and promised it will not fire on them again,’ Trump said on his social media platform Truth Social on Saturday (7/3). He added that ‘this is the first time in thousands of years that Iran has been defeated by the Middle Eastern countries around it’ and that they thanked him. ‘They said, ’Thank you, President Trump,’ and I replied, ‘You’re welcome,’ he said. According to Trump, Iran can no longer be the ‘bully of the Middle East.’ Instead, the country has been defeated and will remain so for decades ‘until they surrender and collapse.’ ‘Today Iran will be struck very hard. The area and groups of people previously not considered as targets are now being considered for total destruction,’ Trump said on Truth Social. As of this writing, there had been no official statements from Tehran or Gulf states regarding Trump’s claim about Iran’s apology. However, Iran’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Amir Saeid Iravani, previously stressed that Iran would continue to defend itself until the aggression and ‘barbaric actions’ of the United States and Israel are stopped. Tensions in the Middle East have risen after the United States and Israel carried out air strikes against Iran since 28 February that reportedly killed more than 900 people, including Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and at least 165 schoolgirls. Iran then retaliated by launching drone and missile strikes targeting locations linked to the United States in the Gulf states.