Trump on Iran: it must give us everything or won’t exist anymore

Russia is providing missiles to Iran after Moscow reportedly helped Tehran target US bases across the region, Bloomberg reported, citing a Western official.

Egypt strongly condemned attacks on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport and a Saudi Airlines aircraft that killed three Saudi citizens and injured several civilians, the Egyptian foreign ministry said on Saturday.

Cairo described the attacks as a violation of international law and said it stood with Saudi Arabia in measures to protect its security, sovereignty and citizens. It also offered condolences to the victims’ families and wished the injured a speedy recovery.

Iran’s hardline Kayhan newspaper has urged security and intelligence agencies to investigate the return of artists and entertainers who had lived abroad, alleging their arrival could be part of a campaign of “soft cultural infiltration.”

“Their overnight change of face is less an expression of patriotism than part of a calculated project to gradually infiltrate cultural institutions and establish contact with certain decision-makers,” Kayhan said.

The newspaper, which is published under the supervision of the supreme leader’s representative, did not name any artists but made the comments after some musicians returned to Iran amid a broader government effort to encourage expatriate artists to come back.

“Security and intelligence agencies should closely scrutinize the hidden aspects and aims of these organized returns and ensure that no part of the matter goes unexamined,” it read.

The paper accused the returning figures of having campaigned against the Islamic Republic while abroad and said their return was being presented as homesickness for Iran. It argued that their return should not be treated like that of ordinary citizens living overseas.

Kayhan also urged the government to prevent media and official platforms from helping returning entertainers rebuild their public profiles.

The paper said it was not opposed to the return of Iranians living abroad, but drew a distinction between ordinary citizens and people it accused of anti-government political activity.

US President Donald Trump said he had stopped Iran from destroying Israel, the Middle East and Europe, and added that Iran was among two conflicts he expected to “settle or win,” alongside the Russia-Ukraine war.

In a Truth Social post criticizing the Nobel Peace Prize decision, Trump also said he had stopped Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

“I stopped Iran from having a Nuclear Weapon, and blowing up the entire Middle East and, ultimately, far beyond! I saved more lives than anyone in History,” he wrote. “I stopped them from destroying Israel, the Middle East, and Europe.”

These were among several comments he made about his record on conflicts and international security.

Sri Lanka has no immediate plans to assist 19 Iranian ships anchored in international waters near the country despite reported shortages of food, water and fuel, the Associated Press reported Friday.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Thushara Rodrigo said the vessels were about 24 nautical miles from Sri Lanka’s coast and that companies supplying ships were aware of the risk of US secondary sanctions.

Rodrigo said Washington had not contacted Sri Lanka to warn of repercussions if it provided assistance.

Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath identified the vessels as Iranian oil tankers and said they had been stranded off the country for several months after the US resumed its naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, leaving dozens of Iranian vessels unable to return home.

The Iranian Embassy in Sri Lanka said it had no details on the matter.

President Donald Trump said Friday the war with Iran would end quickly “one way or the other,” warning Tehran must “give us everything” or “not exist any longer.”

“I’m about to settle or win two more: Iran and Russia-Ukraine,” Trump said during a rally in Syracuse, New York.

Trump said he expected both wars to end “quickly” before turning specifically to Iran.

“I will tell you what. Iran will be very quick one way or the other: that they give us everything or they don’t exist any longer,” he said.

Trump made the remarks while criticizing the decision to award the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize to South African jurist and former UN human rights chief Navi Pillay.

“The United States of America, represented by me as your president, should have received the Nobel Peace Prize, but didn’t,” Trump said.

Pillay was awarded the prize Friday for what the Norwegian Nobel Committee described as her “efforts to promote peace and international law.”

As executions mount in Iran, NUFDI research director Khosro Esfahani says the Islamic Republic is responding to an existential threat with executions and terror, driven by an ideology he describes as a “death cult” willing to fight to the end.

Watch the full conversation in Episode 124 of Eye for Iran on YouTube.

UK Maritime Trade Operations recorded 11 attacks on commercial vessels over the past week, including 10 in the Strait of Hormuz and one in the Persian Gulf, according to its latest weekly maritime security report.

Seven of the vessels attacked in the Strait of Hormuz sustained only minor damage and continued their transit, UKMTO said.

UKMTO said 41 of 59 incidents involving commercial shipping since July 6 occurred along the southern route through the strait. It added that other incidents were known but could not be independently verified.

Vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains about 75% below pre-conflict levels, with tankers continuing to dominate observed movements, according to the report.

The United States called on Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis to halt attacks on Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s internationally recognized government and demanded that Tehran end all support for the group at a UN Security Council meeting Friday.

“The pattern remains unmistakable. The Houthis act as instruments of Tehran to threaten freedom of navigation, undermine regional stability, and terrorize innocent civilians,” US Ambassador to the UN for Management and Reform Jeff Bartos said.

“We demand that the Houthis cease their attacks against the legitimate governments of Yemen and Saudi Arabia, and we demand that Iran cease all support to the Houthis,” he added.

Bartos said Washington was “gravely concerned” by the Houthis’ recent escalation, including attacks on civilian infrastructure and airports.

“In the face of the Houthi threat, the United States stands firmly with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the government of Yemen as they defend their sovereignty and work to restore stability,” he said.

Residents in eastern Tehran reported hearing explosions and what sounded like air defense fire, according to messages received by Iran International. The air defense fire can be heard in videos shared by Vahid Online on Friday.