BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 17. US President Donald Trump has called on Iran to “put up the white flag of surrender”, while saying his administration has established a direct backchannel with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Speaking to Fox News, Trump said he was not under pressure to bring the conflict with Iran to an end and indicated that his administration was prepared to continue its current approach.
“They’re good poker players, but they’re dying,” Trump said, referring to the IRGC. “I have no time schedule. I’m not in a hurry.”
Trump’s remarks suggest that Washington does not currently intend to impose a specific deadline for ending the conflict, despite the growing costs and continuing diplomatic tensions surrounding the war.
The US president also claimed that his administration had established a direct communication channel with the IRGC, potentially creating a new avenue for contacts between Washington and Tehran amid the ongoing confrontation.
Trump’s call for Iran to surrender represents a further hardening of his public rhetoric toward Tehran, while his comments about the backchannel suggest that diplomatic contacts may nevertheless be continuing behind the scenes.
