US President Donald Trump speaks during a Women's History Month event in the East Room of the White House. (March 12, 2026)
“Iran is about to surrender,” says Trump to G7: Axios
Note: AI technology was used to generate this article’s audio.
US President Donald Trump said during a virtual G7 meeting on Wednesday that Iran is "about to surrender," crediting his Operation Epic Fury for eliminating a "cancer that was threatening us all,” according to a report by Axios.
He further remarked that "nobody knows who is the leader, so there is no one that can announce surrender," while previously mocking Iran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, as a "lightweight."
Khamenei issued his first public statement on Thursday, vowing to avenge Iran's "martyrs," open new fronts against enemies, and persist in threats to the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran has intensified efforts to disrupt the vital waterway, with attacks on tankers driving oil prices above $100 per barrel and sparking fears of a global economic downturn - on day 14 of the war.
G7 leaders, including German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and French President Emmanuel Macron, pressed Trump to swiftly end the war and secure the Strait.
Trump claimed the situation is improving and urged commercial ships to resume operations, but remained vague on US objectives, stating "we need to finish the job" to prevent another war with Iran in the next five years.
