US President Donald Trump says there will be no deal struck with Iran except “unconditional surrender,” a week after launching ‌war with ‌Israel ⁠against the country.

“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,” ​Trump said in a social media post, adding that ​they ​would ​work to boost Iran’s ‌economy.

Trump signed off the post with “MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN (MIGA!),” a riff on his longtime campaign slogan “Make America Great Again”.

CNN reports that Trump said in a phone interview he’s looking for new leadership that will treat the United States and Israel well, even if that’s a religious leader and it’s not a democratic state.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked on Friday what Trump meant by “unconditional surrender”.

“What ​the ​president means is that ​when he, as commander in chief of ‌the US Armed Forces, determines that Iran no longer poses a threat to the United States of America, and the goals of Operation Epic Fury has been fully realised, then Iran will essentially be in ​a place of unconditional surrender, whether they say it themselves or ​not,” Leavitt said.

The United States is well on its way toward ‌controlling Iranian airspace, Leavitt said, adding ‌that the US expects the achievable objectives to be completed in four to ‌six weeks.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Leavitt also said the administration was looking at potential candidates to lead Iran, a day after Trump told Reuters the United States ‌should play a role in helping choose a replacement for supreme ⁠leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, killed in ‌the war’s ​first day.

“I know there’s a ​number of people that our intelligence agencies and the United States government are looking at but I won’t get any further on that,” Leavitt said.

Trump’s post on social media came just hours after Iran’s president announced that unspecified countries had begun mediation efforts in one of the first signals of any diplomatic initiative to end the conflict.

President Masoud Pezeshkian posted on ​X: “Some countries have begun mediation efforts.”

He did ‌not identify the countries or provide further details.

“Let’s be clear: we are committed to lasting peace in the region, but we have not the slightest hesitation in defending the dignity and authority of our country. Mediation should address those who underestimated the Iranian people and ignited this conflict,” he ​added.

Under Iran’s system, the president is subordinate to the supreme leader, but Pezeshkian is now ​serving on a panel ⁠that has assumed Khamenei’s duties.

School strike questions intensify

The White House press secretary was asked Monday (EDT) whether the president was satisfied with the pace of the investigation into whether the US military hit an elementary school in Iran.

“I don’t have any updates with respect to the investigation. I would expect those to come from the Pentagon,” Karoline Leavitt said.

CNN reported that evidence it had compiled suggested that the United States military was responsible for the strike that killed scores of children.

Reuters has reported that it was told by two U.S officials that U.S. military investigators believe it is likely that U.S. forces were responsible for the apparent ​strike but have not yet reached a final conclusion or completed their investigation.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on Tuesday called for a “prompt, impartial and thorough investigation into the circumstances of the attack”

“The onus is on the forces that carried out ‌the attack to investigate ‌it,” ⁠UN human rights office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani told ​a Geneva press briefing.

“This is absolutely horrific,” Shamdasani said, adding that images circulating on social media captured “the essence of the destruction, despair and senselessness and cruelty of this conflict”.

The school in southern Iran was hit ​on Saturday, the ‌first day of US and Israeli attacks against the country. ​

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday that US forces “would not deliberately target a school“.

Fierce attacks continue

Israel pounded the Lebanese capital Beirut on Friday after ordering an unprecedented evacuation of the ​entire southern suburbs ‌of the city.

It also launched a new ​wave of attacks on Iran, saying 50 of its warplanes had struck a bunker beneath the destroyed Tehran compound of Khamenei, still being used by Iran’s leadership after he ​was ​killed.

The United ‌States will respond ‌to Iranian attacks on civilians throughout the Middle East, US ‌Central ‌Command leader ⁠Brad Cooper said ​on Friday.

Cooper said that Iran has attacked 12 different countries since the US ⁠and ‌Israel launched ​strikes on Iran last ‌week, including firing seven ​attack drones at residential neighbourhoods in ​Bahrain ​on Thursday night.

“This ​is unacceptable and ‌will not go unanswered,” Cooper said in a statement.

Trump on Friday also ‌said the United States was moving thousands of ‌people out of various countries throughout the ‌Middle East.

“It is being done quietly, but seamlessly,” Trump ‌said in ‌a social ⁠media post without providing further ​details.

The State Department said later on Friday that it was continuing to reach out to US citizens in the Middle East ⁠to offer charter ‌flights ​or ground transport travel assistance.

“Several flights ​have safely returned ‌hundreds of Americans to the United States ​with additional flights scheduled to take place over the coming days, ​as ​security conditions ​allow,” Assistant Secretary of State ‌for Global Public Affairs Dylan Johnson said in a statement.

Johnson said a task force has “directly assisted nearly 13,000 Americans abroad, ​offering security guidance and travel assistance.”

—with AAP