Tehran/Tel Aviv, 18 June 2025 (dpa/MIA) - US President Donald Trump continued to keep the world guessing about whether the United States was considering a strike against Iranian nuclear facilities.

"Nobody knows what I'm going to do," Trump said on Wednesday in front of the White House when asked. "I may do it. I may not do it," said Trump.

The US president reiterated his demand for Iran's "unconditional surrender," but on the other hand, he did not completely rule out further negotiations. He said it was not too late.

Trump stated that Tehran has "a lot of trouble." He criticized the fact that a solution could have been found earlier. He emphasized that there was "a big difference between now and a week ago."

Trump claimed that the Iranian side had even suggested coming to the White House. "That's ... courageous, but you know, it's ... not easy for them to do, but they suggested [it]."

At the same time, Trump said he has encouraged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stick to his line regarding Iran.

When asked what he had communicated to Netanyahu, Trump told journalists: "I said: Keep going." He mentioned that he speaks with Netanyahu every day. "He is a good man," Trump emphasized.

When asked whether he had indicated to Netanyahu that he intended to help Israel more than before, Trump replied: "No." Israel's prime minister was doing his job well so far, he said.

The US military supports Israel in its defence.

Regarding his approach towards Iran, Trump was also asked whether he had given the country an ultimatum. After a brief pause, the US president responded that one could say that. "Maybe you could call it the ultimate, the ultimate ultimatum, right?"

Khamenei rejects Trump ultimatum

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei earlier rejected Trump's call for unconditional surrender, as Israel kept up its bombing campaign on Iranian state infrastructure.

"The Iranian people are determined and will resist both an imposed war and an imposed peace," Khamenei said in an official statement read by a state TV anchor on Wednesday.

He also warned Washington against intervening to support Israel's attacks, saying it would cause "irreparable damage."

Khamenei, the 86-year-old hardline cleric who has ruled the Islamic Republic since 1989, was neither shown on screen nor heard speaking.

Iran, allies warn against foreign military intervention

As Israel and Iran exchanged fire for a sixth straight day on Wednesday, Iran's Foreign Ministry warned that any direct military intervention by a third country could trigger an all-out regional war.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei told Al Jazeera that outside involvement would create a conflagration that "would engulf all the region."

On the possibility of talks with the United States, Baghaei said, "Diplomacy never ends." However, he added that Tehran had lost all trust in Washington.

Baghaei said Iran's attacks remain focused solely on Israeli territory and expressed confidence that neighbouring countries would not allow the US to use their land to launch strikes on Iran.

Russia also warned the US against entering the conflict. Moscow, a close ally of Tehran, has criticized Israel for pushing the region toward "nuclear catastrophe."

Israel strikes nuclear, military and symbolic sites

The UN's nuclear watchdog said on Wednesday that Israel has struck two sites in Iran that manufacture parts for uranium enrichment centrifuges.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) identified the facilities as the TESA Karaj workshop and the Tehran Research Centre. Both were under agency monitoring.

"At the Tehran site, one building was hit where advanced centrifuge rotors were manufactured and tested. At Karaj, two buildings were destroyed where different centrifuge components were manufactured," the IAEA wrote on X.

Casualty figures mount as exchanges continue

The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), a US-based group of Iranian activists, reported that 585 people have been killed in Israeli attacks, including 239 civilians and 126 military personnel. More than 1,300 people have been injured.

In Israel, authorities say 24 people have died and over 800 have been injured since the conflict began.

More than 50 Israeli fighter jets took part in strikes around Tehran on Wednesday, hitting facilities linked to weapons and missile production.

Iran has once again fired rockets at Israel, the Israeli army said on Wednesday evening. "Defence systems are operational to intercept the threat," it said in a statement. Iran confirmed the attack.

In several areas of the country, including the densely populated Tel Aviv metropolitan area, warning sirens wailed. People in the affected regions were instructed to temporarily remain in shelters. They have since been allowed to leave them.

The Israeli broadcaster Kan reported that a rocket had reached Israeli territory and was shot down. The Magen David Adom rescue service stated that a vehicle in the centre of the country was hit by a rocket fragment. However, the driver was fully conscious.

The last rocket attacks from Iran occurred during the previous night. Since then, the Islamic Republic has also attacked Israel with drones.

At the same time, Israel continues to target sites in Iran. In the past 24 hours, the Israeli Air Force has conducted three waves of attacks, said army spokesman Effie Defrin in the evening. He said they targeted around 40 positions in Tehran.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have claimed that in their latest attack on Israel they fired one of the most advanced types of rockets from their arsenal, the Sejjil, with a range of at least 2,000 kilometres for the first time.

Due to their solid fuel propulsion, the rockets are significantly quicker to deploy and harder to detect than liquid-fuelled systems. They can carry warheads weighing up to 1 metric ton.