WASHINGTON

President Donald Trump said Friday that he will only accept "unconditional surrender" from Iran as the US and Israel continue to strike across the country, prompting continued Iranian retaliation.

"There will be no deal with Iran except unconditional surrender!" the US president said on his Truth Social platform.

"After that, and the selection of a great & acceptable leader(s), we, and many of our wonderful and very brave allies and partners, will work tirelessly to bring Iran back from the brink of destruction, making it economically bigger, better, and stronger than ever before. Iran will have a great future," he added.

The US president later said during an interview with CNN that Iran's pre-war leadership has been "neutered," while claiming confidence in the ease with which a new leader will be selected, continuing to demand a role in the process. He said he is open to the individual being a cleric.

"Well I may be yeah, I mean, it depends on who the person is. I don’t mind religious leaders. I deal with a lot of religious leaders and they are fantastic,” he said.

Asked if he wants Iran to be a democratic nation, Trump said: "No, I’m saying there has to be a leader that’s going be fair and just. Do a great job. Treat the United States and Israel well, and treat the other countries in the Middle East — they’re all our partners."

Regional tensions have escalated since the US and Israel launched a large-scale attack on Iran on Saturday, killing more than 1,000 people, including Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, over 150 schoolgirls, and senior military officials.

Iran has retaliated with sweeping barrages of its own that have targeted US bases, diplomatic facilities, and military personnel across the region, as well as multiple Israeli cities. The attacks have continued to escalate.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday that Iran’s leadership had miscalculated if it believed Washington could not maintain the pace of operations.

“Iran is hoping that we cannot sustain this, which is a really bad miscalculation for the IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) in Iran,” Hegseth said.

“There’s no shortage of American will here,” he said, arguing US stockpiles of offensive and defensive weapons allow the campaign to continue “as long as it takes to ensure the US achieves these objectives.”