DUBAI — In a prerecorded address aired on state television, Iran’s president Masoud Pezeshkian rejected U.S. calls for an “unconditional surrender,” calling the demand “a dream that they should take to their grave.” At the same time he publicly apologized for recent Iranian strikes on neighboring countries, said Tehran would halt such attacks and suggested they stemmed from miscommunication inside the armed forces after the killing of senior leaders.
Pezeshkian said Iran’s three‑man leadership council had been in contact with the armed forces and offered a personal apology to the neighboring states that were hit. He said Iran would not launch attacks unless first attacked and that diplomacy should be used to resolve disputes. He attributed the apparent loss of command and control to the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other senior officials; Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which has driven much of the fighting, answers only to the supreme leader. Khamenei, 86, was killed in an Israeli strike at the start of the war on Feb. 28, Pezeshkian said.
The comments came as U.S. and Israeli airstrikes continued to target Iranian military sites, leadership and nuclear‑related infrastructure. Associated Press video showed explosions and smoke over western Tehran after Israel said it had launched broad strikes. U.S. officials warned a heavier bombing campaign could be coming; the administration approved a $151 million arms sale to Israel and President Donald Trump said he would not negotiate with Iran without its “unconditional surrender.” U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned the “biggest bombing campaign” of the war was still to come. Iran’s U.N. ambassador said Tehran would “take all necessary measures” to defend itself.
The fighting has spread across the Gulf. Early Saturday, Iran launched repeated attacks on Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Sirens sounded in Bahrain. Saudi forces said they destroyed drones en route to the Shaybah oil field and shot down a ballistic missile headed for Prince Sultan Air Base, which hosts U.S. forces. Dubai reported several blasts and activated air defenses; passengers at Dubai International Airport were moved into train tunnels during the alert, and Emirates briefly suspended flights to and from the city.
Qatar’s energy minister warned the war could “bring down the economies of the world” by disrupting Gulf exports and pushing oil toward $150 a barrel; U.S. benchmark crude rose above $90 a barrel. Regional analysis published by Al Jazeera argued Iran may be making “a strategic miscalculation of historic proportions,” warning that strikes on Gulf states risk widening the conflict into a confrontation with Arab neighbors.
On the diplomatic and security fronts, Saudi Arabia’s defense minister met Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, in Riyadh to discuss ways to halt Iranian attacks; the two countries have a mutual defense pact treating an attack on one as an attack on both. Incoming missiles also prompted air‑raid responses across Israel, with loud booms heard in Jerusalem.
Hezbollah reported clashes with Israeli forces that landed in eastern Lebanon. Lebanon’s Health Ministry said at least 16 people were killed in subsequent Israeli strikes and 35 were wounded; Lebanese officials say more than 200 people have been killed and over 800 wounded since the recent Israeli strikes. Across the broader fighting, officials reported at least 1,230 dead in Iran, more than 200 dead in Lebanon, around a dozen dead in Israel and six U.S. troops killed.