WASHINGTON, Mar 14 (AFP): US President Donald Trump said Friday that Iran has been "totally defeated" in the US-Israeli military campaign against the country and wanted a deal he would not accept, despite Iranian officials pledging to continue the fight.
"The Fake News Media hates to report how well the United States Military has done against Iran, which is totally defeated and wants a deal - But not a deal that I would accept!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, without elaborating.
Trump's comments came after he said that Washington had heavily bombed military targets on Iran's oil hub Kharg Island and the US Navy would soon begin escorting tankers through the Strait of Hormuz.
But as the US strikes on Iran persisted, Tehran launched a new wave of drone and missile attacks on Israel and its Gulf neighbours.
Meanwhile, several top Iranian officials joined a defiant pro-government rally in Tehran on Friday, marching alongside demonstrators waving banners reading "Death to America" and "Death to Israel."
Iran's top diplomat said this week that talks remain off the table and attacks would continue for as long as necessary.
"I don't think talking with the Americans would be on our agenda anymore," Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told PBS News this week, adding Tehran had a "very bitter experience" during previous negotiations with the US.
Hamas urges Iran to stop
'targeting neighbours'
Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas on Saturday called on Iran to refrain from targeting neighbouring countries, while affirming Tehran's right to defend itself against Israel and the United States.
"While affirming the right of the Islamic Republic of Iran to respond to this aggression by all available means in accordance with international norms and laws, the movement calls on the brothers in Iran to avoid targeting neighbouring countries," Hamas said in a statement.
Hamas, which fought a devastating two-year war with Israel in Gaza, also called on the international community to "work towards halting" the ongoing war immediately.
The group previously condemned the killing of Iran's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, on the first day of the war as a "heinous crime", openly acknowledging his longstanding support for the Palestinian movement.
"He provided all forms of political, diplomatic and military support to our people, our cause, and our resistance," the movement said soon after the killing of Khamenei.
Macron thanks Iraqi PM for
safeguarding French forces
President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday said he had expressed gratitude to the Iraqi prime minister for taking measures to protect French forces, after a drone strike killed a French soldier in Iraq's Kurdistan region.
"Yesterday, I spoke with the Iraqi prime minister, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani," Macron said on X, writing in French and Arabic.
"I thank him for his commitment to getting to the bottom of this attack and to strengthening measures to protect our forces, who are present in Iraq to fight, alongside the Iraqis, against the scourge of terrorism."
Arnaud Frion, 42, was killed and six other French soldiers were wounded on Thursday evening in a drone attack in the Erbil region of Iraqi Kurdistan. He is the first French soldier to die since the start of the war in the Middle East.
"We will continue our coordination and our efforts to promote the country's stability and sovereignty, as well as regional de-escalation," Macron said.
Iraq's prime minister has vowed to prevent further attacks after Frion's death.
Macron has condemned the attack as unacceptable, but reaffirmed France's "purely defensive" stance in the conflict.
He refrained from attributing the attack, carried out by an Iranian-designed drone, to any specific group or country, or from mentioning a possible retaliation.
