Iran says it has ‘will’ to end war, as Trump zigzags on escalation

Iran has the “necessary will” to end the war with the US and Israel, President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Tuesday, stressing that Tehran was seeking guarantees the conflict would not flare up again.

The comment by the head of state – which boosted markets in the US – came after a day of heavy strikes on Iran and followed a tough warning from the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The Guards threatened to retaliate against leading US tech firms such as Google, Meta and Apple from Wednesday if more Iranian leaders were killed in “targeted assassinations”.

The Guards charged that 18 companies, also including Intel, Tesla and analytics firm Palantir, were complicit in previous killings and warned they “should expect the destruction of their relevant units in exchange for every assassination in Iran”.

US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched the war on February 28, killing Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and setting off a wave of retaliatory attacks across the region.

Trump has since zigzagged on whether Washington plans to further escalate the war that has roiled the world economy – possibly by deploying American ground forces – or try to end it through negotiations with Tehran.