Iran War a 'Long Way From Being Over,' Says Retired General Wesley Clark

Retired Army General Wesley Clark said the US-Israel offensive against Iran is off to a good start, but there's a lot more that needs to be done to isolate targets and the campaign is a "long way from being over." Clark said that the scope of the conflict makes it important to keep diplomatic lines of communication open, in the event that Iran wants to meet US objectives and "cry uncle."

President Donald Trump said he doesn’t want to negotiate an end to the war with Iran in a post on social media that demanded Tehran capitulate as US and Israeli airstrikes continue.

“There will be no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!” Trump wrote on Truth Social, adding that the US and its allies would select a “GREAT & ACCEPTABLE Leader(s).”

The president’s remarks are a signal that the White House may be girding for an extended conflict after US officials had insisted their goal was not regime change. Trump in the early days of the conflict had instead indicated a willingness to still broker a deal. The war has left at least 1,332 people dead in Iran so far, and dozens of others have been killed elsewhere in the region in retaliatory strikes. Six US troops have been killed, all in the first two days of fighting.

Iran is poised to elect a successor to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed on Feb. 28, the first day of the conflict, and Mojtaba Khamenei, the slain leader’s second-oldest son, is in the running. Trump has said dismissed him as a “lightweight” who wouldn’t change the regime’s policies and insisted on being personally involved in picking the country’s next leader.

In a subsequent interview with CNN, Trump said he “may be” fine with Iran having another religious leader, but that the next person to head the country needed to “treat the United States and Israel well.”

“It’s going to work out like it did with Venezuela,” Trump said.

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