WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday it was “too late” for Iran to seek negotiations to end the war, as hostilities between Washington, Israel and Tehran expanded across the Middle East.
“Their air defence, air force, navy, and leadership is gone. They want to talk. I said: ‘Too late!’,” Trump wrote on his social media platform.
His remarks came two days after he had agreed to talks and four days after US and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran.
Iranian media reported on Tuesday that US and Israeli strikes had targeted the building housing the committee responsible for electing Iran’s new supreme leader.
“The American-Zionist criminals attacked the Assembly of Experts building in Qom,” the Tasnim news agency said, referring to the body tasked with appointing a successor.
Footage carried by local media showed severe damage to the building south of Tehran.
The Israeli military said it had launched a ninth wave of strikes on the Iranian capital.
“The Air Force has now begun a large-scale wave of strikes targeting Iranian infrastructure in Tehran,” it said in a statement.
Loud explosions were heard in central Tehran, according to AFP.
Shortly afterwards, Israel said it had hit a high-ranking Iranian commander in the capital, without giving further details.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the country had “not come to a halt” despite the attacks.
“By delegating the necessary authorities to the provinces, decision-making is carried out swiftly and in proportion to local conditions,” he wrote on X, adding that the political leadership remained in contact with provincial governors.
ترامپ با "آرزوهای واهی" منطقه را به آشوب کشاند و حالا نگران تلفات بیشتر نیروهای امریکایی است.
وی با عملکرد متوهمانه، شعار خودساخته "اول امریکا" را به "اول اسرائیل" تبدیل کرد و سربازان امریکایی را فدای قدرت طلبی اسرائیل نمود… ۱/۲— Ali Larijani | علی لاریجانی (@alilarijani_ir) March 2, 2026
‘Unlimited supply’ of US munitions
On Monday, Trump said the US military had sufficient stockpiled weapons to fight wars “forever”.
In a social media post overnight, he said there was a “virtually unlimited supply” of US munitions and that “wars can be fought ‘forever,’ and very successfully, using just these supplies”.
“The United States is stocked, and ready to WIN, BIG!!!” he wrote.
Speaking briefly ahead of a Medal of Honour ceremony at the White House, Trump said the campaign against Tehran had been projected to last four to five weeks.
“We’re already substantially ahead of our time projections. But whatever the time is, it’s OK. Whatever it takes,” he said.
The conflict entered its fourth day on Tuesday following US and Israeli air strikes on Saturday.
Trump has not delivered a televised address to the nation since the hostilities began.
Iran rejects negotiations
Iran dismissed suggestions that it had sought talks with Washington.
At a weekly press conference, foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei called on the United States and Israel to halt military operations.
“They have to stop the war, it wasn’t us who started the war, this military aggression was not our choice, our choice was diplomacy,” he said.
Ali Larijani, head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said Tehran “will not negotiate with the United States”.
In a post on X, he denied reports that Iranian officials were attempting to open channels with the Trump administration following the latest strikes.
“Trump plunged the region into chaos with his ‘delusional fantasies’ and now fears more American troop casualties,” Larijani wrote.
ترامپ با "آرزوهای واهی" منطقه را به آشوب کشاند و حالا نگران تلفات بیشتر نیروهای امریکایی است.
وی با عملکرد متوهمانه، شعار خودساخته "اول امریکا" را به "اول اسرائیل" تبدیل کرد و سربازان امریکایی را فدای قدرت طلبی اسرائیل نمود… ۱/۲— Ali Larijani | علی لاریجانی (@alilarijani_ir) March 2, 2026
Iranian attacks across region
Missiles fired from Iran triggered air raid sirens and explosions over Jerusalem and central Israel.
Israel’s military said it was intercepting the barrage. The Magen David Adom emergency service said seven people were injured.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards warned of further attacks.
“The gates of hell will open more and more, moment by moment, upon the United States and Israel,” spokesman Ali Mohammad Naini told state television.
The Guards said they had targeted a US air base in Bahrain. They later claimed to have destroyed the “main command building and headquarters” of a US base in the Sheikh Isa area during what they described as the 14th wave of “Operation Promise of the Truth 4”.
Explosions were also heard in Manama and Doha, according to AFP. Qatar’s defence ministry said it had intercepted two ballistic missiles.
In the United Arab Emirates, debris from an intercepted drone caused a fire at an oil storage zone in Fujairah. Authorities said the blaze was contained and operations resumed.
Saudi Arabia said that two drones struck the US Embassy in Riyadh, causing a limited fire and minor material damage.
A Saudi defence ministry spokesman said eight drones were intercepted near Riyadh and Al-Kharj. No injuries were reported.
Official Spokesperson for the Ministry of Defense of the Kingdom of #SaudiArabia, Major General Turki Al-Maliki: Interception and destruction of 8 drones near the cities of Riyadh and Al-Kharj.🇸🇦🇸🇦🇸🇦 https://t.co/593ACF180w
— Khalid A Alorair (@alorair) March 3, 2026
Washington has ordered non-emergency embassy staff to leave six Middle Eastern countries amid the widening conflict.
The escalation followed joint US-Israeli strikes on Saturday that killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, triggering retaliatory missile and drone attacks by Tehran across Israel and Gulf states.
