US President Donald Trump has demanded Tehran's “unconditional surrender” and said America's patience is wearing thin, apparently paving the way for the US to join Israel’s war against Iran.
Mr Trump had earlier said "we" have control of the skies above Iran, and hailed the use of US-made weapons. His remarks came after he urged Tehran's residents to evacuate the Iranian capital. Residents poured out of the city, and shops and the historic Grand Bazaar were closed on Tuesday.
Mr Trump flew back to Washington late on Monday, cutting short his trip to the G7 summit in Canada to confer with his national security team as the Israel-Iran air war raged for a fifth day.
His comments were a far cry from earlier messages, in which he maintained that a US-Iranian nuclear deal remained within reach.
In two posts on Truth Social on Tuesday, Mr Trump warned Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that the US knows where he is "hiding" but does not plan to kill him, "at least for now". In a subsequent post, he wrote simply: "Unconditional surrender!"
The US military is sending more jet fighters to the Middle East and extending the stay of others, US officials told Reuters. One said F-16, F-22 and F-35 warplanes would be involved.
The White House published a list of dozens of occasions dating back to 2011 that Mr Trump has said Iran cannot be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. As he flew back from Canada, the President was asked about a recent intelligence assessment from his Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard. In March, she testified that the US intelligence community assessed that Iran isn't building a nuclear weapon.
“I don’t care what she said. I think they were very close to having one," Mr Trump told reporters.
When asked if the door to diplomacy remains open, State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said: "That would be a decision made by President Trump."
US Vice President JD Vance, meanwhile, issued a long statement on social media that appeared designed to convince Mr Trump's staunchly anti-war and isolationist Maga base that war in the Middle East might be inevitable.
“The President has shown remarkable restraint in keeping our military’s focus on protecting our troops and protecting our citizens," Mr Vance wrote. “He may decide he needs to take further action to end Iranian enrichment. That decision ultimately belongs to the President.”
But Khaled Elgindy, an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and an expert on US foreign relations in the Middle East, said Mr Trump may still believe he can reach a deal with Iran.
"He thinks he can get a deal but the kind where you put a gun to someone's head – I don't think that's feasible," he told The National. "It looks like the Maga people, the America First people, have lost that debate."
The State Department said it has created a new task force to assist Americans seeking to leave Israel and other Middle East countries amid the conflict with Iran, although no government evacuations are currently planned.
“The task force is operating 24 hours a day over the past week to help keep US citizens informed," Ms Bruce told reporters on Tuesday. "We have issued more than 30 security alerts to countries in the region and updated travel advisories for Iraq and Israel. We remind US citizens not to travel to Israel or Iraq, and not to travel to Iran under any circumstances."
She said Mr Trump wants a "peaceful world".
"There has been nothing that has changed in what he wishes for, what he would hope to accomplish," Ms Bruce said.
Mr Trump shared a screenshot of a text message from Mike Huckabee, the US ambassador to Israel. Mr Huckabee is also a Baptist minister and a former Arkansas governor.
He said Mr Trump had been saved by God during last year's assassination attempt in Pennsylvania.
“You did not seek this moment. This moment sought you,” Mr Huckabee wrote, pledging to be the last person to leave the US embassy in Israel.
Analysts in Washington questioned whether US strikes on Iran's known nuclear sites – believed to be buried deep underground – would damage Tehran's programme, let alone its ambition.
"US strikes on Iran would undermine non-proliferation goals and Congress has not approved any war on Iran – launching one would thwart the will of the American people, who oppose another costly Middle East war,“ Rosemary Kelanic, director of the Middle East programme at Defence Priorities, wrote in a statement. "We need a political solution, not war."
Thomas Watkins contributed to this report from Washington.
