Iran could be moving closer to electing a new supreme leader even as some cracks appeared to be developing among the surviving rulers in Tehran, while the United States and Israel vowed to hit Iran harder than ever as the war passed the one-week mark.
After Iranian President Masud Pezeshkian said he wanted to "personally apologize to neighboring countries” that had been hit by Iranian missiles and drones, powerful national security chief Ali Larijani and others on March 7 defiantly lashed out and Tehran struck again at US Arab allies in the region.
Separately, Iranian state media late on March 7 quoted hard-line Ayatollah Hossein Mozafari, a member of the Assembly of Experts --– which will elect the country’s next ruler -- as saying the body could meet in the next 24 hours to make a decision.
SEE ALSO: Trump Says Does Not Want Iranian Kurds To Launch OffensiveUS President Donald Trump indicated he is not interested in further negotiations with Iran after several rounds of talks that did not reach a breakthrough.
"At some point, I don't think there will be anybody left maybe to say, 'We surrender,'" Trump said.
Trump warned in a social media post that more Iranian officials would become targets in the war. “Today, Iran will be hit very hard!”
"Under serious consideration for complete destruction and certain death, because of Iran's bad behavior, are areas and groups of people that were not considered for targeting up until this moment in time," he said.
He also reiterated that he is demanding a role in selecting Iran's successor leadership saying the next ruler should be "GREAT & ACCEPTABLE."
"I know there are a number of people that our intelligence agencies and the United States government are looking at, but I won't go any further than that," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters at the White House on March 6.
Kurdish Ground Offensive?
Trump also said he does not want ethnic Kurds to launch an attack on the Iranian regime. The remarks came after conflicting reports as to whether Trump was encouraging a ground offensive by Iranian Kurdish exiles based in Iraq.
"We're not looking to the Kurds going in," he told reporters aboard Air Force One. "We're very friendly with the Kurds, as you know, but we don't want to make the war any more complex than it already is."
“I don’t want to see the Kurds get hurt and killed. They’re willing to go in, but I’ve told them I don’t want them going in. The war’s complicated enough without getting the Kurds involved," he said.
On March 5, Trump had told Reuters he would be "all for" an offensive by Iranian Kurdish fighters in support of the US-Israeli effort.
Officials of one exile group on March 7 said an Iranian Kurdish base in Iraq's semiautonomous Kurdish region had been hit by air strikes, likely by drones. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said they had targeted "separatist groups" in the region. The reports could not immediately be verified.
Personally Apologize'
Pezeshkian, amid rising anger from Gulf nations and others -- such as Iraq, Azerbaijan, and Turkey -- said in a video message that he would like to "personally apologize to neighboring countries that were affected by Iran’s actions" as he urged them not to join the US-Israeli attacks on Iran.
SEE ALSO: 'We Have Lost Everything': Iranians Continue To Cross Into Armenia Amid Air AttacksHe said Iran's temporary leadership council had agreed to suspend attacks on nearby states unless strikes on Iran originated from their territory.
However, hours later the IRGC Navy launched a drone attack on the US al-Dhafra air base in the UAE, according to the Tasnim news agency, a semiofficial news agency associated with the IRGC.
Hard-line cleric Hamid Rasai, a lawmaker, blasted Pezeshkian for his apology, writing on X that "your stance was unprofessional, weak, and unacceptable."
Judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei also rejected Pezeshkian's remarks, saying that "intense attacks on these [regional] targets will continue."
Loud explosions were heard in Dubai, Doha, and Bahrain's Manama, with attacks also reported in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Kuwait, where the national oil company announced a "precautionary" cut to production.
UAE President Muhammad bin Zayed Al Nahyan said in a TV address that the Emirates were in "a period of war" but "will emerge stronger" from the crisis.
Many of the Gulf Arab states host US military bases and other facilities that have become the focus of many Iranian missile and drone attacks.
Elsewhere, Katyusha rockets struck near the US embassy in Baghdad -- likely fired by Iran-allied militias in Iraq. It was not immediately clear whether there were any casualties or damages.
Reuters quoted a senior Iraqi security official as saying the C-RAM defense system brought down one of the rockets and that none landed inside the embassy. The official said there were no American casualties.
Larijani Fires Back
Iranian security chief Larijani, meanwhile, claimed that the United States and Israel were seeking the breakup of the country.
"Their issue was...the fundamental disintegration of Iran," Larijani said in a recorded interview on state TV.
"I think the most important problem the Americans have is that they do not understand the context of West Asia, especially Iran," Larijani said.
SEE ALSO: US 'Looking At' Potential Candidates To Lead Iran, As Tehran's Assembly Of Experts Expected To Convene"Their perception was that it would be like Venezuela -- they would strike, take control and it would be over -- but now they are trapped."
Netanyahu Vows To 'Eradicate' Regime
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would continue its war with Iran "with all our force" and asserted that his country and US forces had achieved near-total dominance of the skies over Tehran.
"We have a systematic plan to eradicate the Iranian regime and achieve many other objectives," Netanyahu said in a TV address.
"Citizens [of Israel], you are telling me, the government, and our heroic soldiers to continue until victory, and I thank you. I can assure you that we will continue with all our force," Netanyahu said.
"We will continue to act with all our might until we achieve all our goals," he said and claimed Israel was "changing the face of the Middle East."
Israel also intensified its offensive against Iran-allied Hezbollah forces in southern Lebanon.