WASHINGTON/TEHRAN/CAIRO/BAGHDAD - US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Washington is "not ready" to end the conflict with Iran, which is now entering its third week.

"We're not ready to leave yet, but we'll be leaving in the near future," Trump told reporters at the White House.

Asked whether the White House has a "day-after" plan for the conflict with Iran, Trump gave no details, repeating his claim that Iran has "been decimated from every standpoint" since the United States and Israel began large-scale attacks on Iran on Feb 28.

It would take Iran a decade to rebuild, he said.

Trump told reporters that if he sends US ground troops into Iran, he was not afraid it could turn into another Vietnam for the United States.

Local analysts say if Washington plans to seize Kharg Island, Iran's main oil export hub, and target an underground facility in Isfahan believed to store much of its nuclear material, US or Israeli ground operations would likely be required. 

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi has roundly rejected having had any new contact with US president's special envoy Steve Witkoff.

He made the remarks in a post on social media platform X early Tuesday while reacting to a report by US media outlet Axios claiming so, as the military campaign launched by the United States and Israel against Iran has entered its 18th day.

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US allies

Trump said Tuesday the United States has been informed by most of its NATO allies that they "don't want to get involved" in the military operation against Iran, adding that the United States does not need help from NATO allies or other countries.

"We no longer 'need,' or desire, the NATO Countries' assistance -- WE NEVER DID! Likewise, Japan, Australia, or South Korea," Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Iranian missile sites

US forces struck Iranian missile sites along Iran's coastline near the Strait of Hormuz, the US Central Command said Tuesday on X.

"Hours ago, US forces successfully employed multiple 5,000-pound deep penetrator munitions on hardened Iranian missile sites along Iran's coastline near the Strait of Hormuz," the command said.

"The Iranian anti-ship cruise missiles in these sites posed a risk to international shipping in the strait," it added.

Ali Larijani

Iran's Supreme National Security Council confirmed that its secretary Ali Larijani has been killed in an attack, Iran's Tasnim news agency reported early Wednesday.

In a statement, the council said Larijani died early Tuesday alongside his son Morteza Larijani, deputy for security affairs at the council's secretariat Alireza Bayat, and several others, Tasnim reported.

The council praised Larijani's long service to Iran's development and called for national unity in the face of external threats.

On Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel had killed Larijani in ongoing strikes on Iran.

Also on Tuesday, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) confirmed the death of Gholamreza Soleimani, head of the Basij volunteer force, in a US -Israeli strike.

The IRGC said in a statement that the senior commander was a veteran military figure who played an important role in major conflicts, including the Iran-Iraq War, and held prominent leadership positions in recent years.

'Haj Qasem' missile

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Tuesday it used a new "Haj Qasem" ballistic missile for the first time in a fresh wave of attacks against Israel, describing it as an advanced precision-guided weapon named after slain commander Qassem Soleimani, Iran's Tasnim news agency reported.

Meanwhile, drone attacks targeted on Tuesday evening the US embassy in Baghdad and the Victoria military base near the Baghdad International Airport, an Interior Ministry source said.