US President Donald Trump threatened more strikes on Iran’s main oil export hub Kharg Island and said he was not ready for a deal with Tehran to end the war which has shut off the vital Strait of Hormuz and caused chaos in global energy markets.
With the US-Israeli war on Iran in its third week, Trump said US strikes had “totally demolished” much of the island and warned of more, telling NBC News on Saturday, “We may hit it a few more times just for fun.”
The comments marked a sharp escalation from Trump, who had previously said the US was targeting only military sites on Kharg, and dealt a blow to diplomatic efforts to end a war that has spread across the Middle East and killed more than 2,000 people, most in Iran and Lebanon.
Washington has brushed aside attempts by Middle Eastern allies to open talks, three sources told Reuters and Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Sunday they had fired more missiles at Israel and three US bases in the region.
Trump, who has made a series of varying demands, including a say in choosing Iran’s leader and an end to its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, told NBC News that Tehran appeared ready to make a ?deal to end the fighting but that “the terms aren’t good enough yet”.
In his interview with NBC, Trump raised the possibility that Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei may have been killed but Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Khamenei was in full health and managing the situation.
Meanwhile, Iran launched at least three successive waves of missile attacks on Israel on Sunday, striking central areas and triggering air raid sirens across several regions, according to reports circulating on social media and statements cited by Drop Site News.
The reported barrage targeted multiple locations, with missiles impacting sites in central Israel while another wave was directed toward the southern part of the country. Initial accounts indicated damage in some areas, though the full extent of casualties or destruction was not immediately clear.
Videos and eyewitness reports shared online showed explosions and interception attempts as Israeli air defence systems responded to incoming projectiles. Authorities issued alerts urging residents in affected regions to seek shelter while emergency services assessed potential impact sites.
The attacks come amid escalating regional tensions between Iran, Israel and the United States, with both sides exchanging strikes during a widening conflict that has drawn in multiple actors across the Middle East. Previous missile barrages have targeted major population centres and infrastructure across Israel, sometimes causing injuries and significant property damage despite interception efforts by air defence systems.
There was no immediate official statement from Israeli authorities detailing the scale of damage from the latest strikes. Iranian officials have previously framed missile launches as retaliation for Israeli and US military actions in the region.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has insisted that Tehran has not requested a ceasefire or sought negotiations with Washington, saying that the country will continue defending itself amid ongoing conflict with the United States.
In comments to CBS News, Araghchi said, “No, we never asked for a ceasefire, and we have never asked even for negotiation. We are ready to defend ourselves as long as it takes. And this is what we have done so far, and we continue to do that until President Trump comes to the point that this is an illegal war with no victory. There are people being killed only because President Trump wants to have fun. This is what he has said.”
Araghchi criticised the US administration’s conduct in the conflict, describing actions such as targeting ships as “a war of choice by President Trump and the United States.”
He also rejected the notion that Iran is fighting a war of survival, saying the government is “stable and strong enough” to defend its people without negotiating.
Iran’s foreign minister has framed Iran’s missile and drone operations as responses to US forces using the territory of regional allies.
“These are the countries that have given their soil to American forces to attack us,” Araghchi said during the CBS News interview. “So what can we do? We just sit and watch that American forces are attacking us from their soil? … We are only targeting American assets, American installations and American military bases. Everything belongs to Americans.”
Iran has been attacking its regional neighbours since the outbreak of the conflict more than two weeks ago.