President Donald Trump is threatening to use greater force against Iran while maintaining that he still has diplomatic options following the death of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Khamenei was killed in a massive military operation, called Operation Epic Fury, launched by the United States and Israel on Saturday.Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told the Al Jazeera network on Sunday that a new leader could be chosen in one to two days. Meanwhile, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard is vowing to launch “the most-intense offensive operation” in its history to target Israel and American military bases in the region. Trump responded in a social media post on Sunday, writing, “THEY BETTER NOT DO THAT, HOWEVER, BECAUSE IF THEY DO, WE WILL HIT THEM WITH A FORCE THAT HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE!” Video below: Why did the U.S. and Israel strike Iran now?As of 9:30 a.m. ET on Sunday, U.S. Central Command said that three U.S. service members had been killed as part of Operation Epic Fury, with five others seriously wounded. Officials didn’t immediately identify the deceased out of respect for the families. Deaths stemming from the Iranian response have also been reported elsewhere in the Middle East, including Israel.Iranian state media has reported hundreds of casualties after widespread strikes targeted its government and military sites throughout the country on Saturday. Israel continued to batter Tehran on Sunday morning. Israel’s military said Sunday that its strikes had killed 40 top Iranian military officials. There are also reports of civilian deaths, including at an Iranian all-girls’ school, that U.S. military officials are “looking into.”Trump said on social media that the “heavy and pinpoint bombing” will continue “uninterrupted throughout the week or, as long as necessary to achieve our objective of PEACE THROUGHOUT THE MIDDLE EAST AND, INDEED, THE WORLD!” Trump has yet to hold a press conference since the operation started, but he told Axios in a brief phone interview that he has several “off ramps” from his military campaign. He told CBS News in a separate conversation that the death of Iran’s supreme leader could create a pathway to diplomacy. The specifics of that plan weren’t immediately clear. The U.S.-Israeli military operation began after several rounds of talks with Iran aimed at dismantling its nuclear program came up short. Iran has insisted its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes and has refused to make concessions on other U.S. demands, like rolling back its missile program and ending support for armed groups in the region. In an emergency meeting on Saturday, António Guterres, secretary general of the United Nations, urged both sides to resume negotiations “to pull the region, and our world, back from the brink.” “I call for de-escalation and an immediate cessation of hostilities. The alternative is a potential wider conflict with grave consequences for civilians and regional stability,” Guterres said. The Trump administration has built up the largest U.S. military presence in the Middle East in decades. Some members of Congress are calling for an immediate vote to rein in the president’s ability to launch further attacks on Iran without congressional approval. Similar efforts have failed in the Republican-led Congress in the past.
President Donald Trump is threatening to use greater force against Iran while maintaining that he still has diplomatic options following the death of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Khamenei was killed in a massive military operation, called Operation Epic Fury, launched by the United States and Israel on Saturday.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told the Al Jazeera network on Sunday that a new leader could be chosen in one to two days. Meanwhile, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard is vowing to launch “the most-intense offensive operation” in its history to target Israel and American military bases in the region.
Trump responded in a social media post on Sunday, writing, “THEY BETTER NOT DO THAT, HOWEVER, BECAUSE IF THEY DO, WE WILL HIT THEM WITH A FORCE THAT HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE!”
Video below: Why did the U.S. and Israel strike Iran now?
As of 9:30 a.m. ET on Sunday, U.S. Central Command said that three U.S. service members had been killed as part of Operation Epic Fury, with five others seriously wounded. Officials didn’t immediately identify the deceased out of respect for the families. Deaths stemming from the Iranian response have also been reported elsewhere in the Middle East, including Israel.
Iranian state media has reported hundreds of casualties after widespread strikes targeted its government and military sites throughout the country on Saturday. Israel continued to batter Tehran on Sunday morning. Israel’s military said Sunday that its strikes had killed 40 top Iranian military officials. There are also reports of civilian deaths, including at an Iranian all-girls’ school, that U.S. military officials are “looking into.”
Trump said on social media that the “heavy and pinpoint bombing” will continue “uninterrupted throughout the week or, as long as necessary to achieve our objective of PEACE THROUGHOUT THE MIDDLE EAST AND, INDEED, THE WORLD!”
Trump has yet to hold a press conference since the operation started, but he told Axios in a brief phone interview that he has several “off ramps” from his military campaign. He told CBS News in a separate conversation that the death of Iran’s supreme leader could create a pathway to diplomacy.
The specifics of that plan weren’t immediately clear. The U.S.-Israeli military operation began after several rounds of talks with Iran aimed at dismantling its nuclear program came up short. Iran has insisted its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes and has refused to make concessions on other U.S. demands, like rolling back its missile program and ending support for armed groups in the region.
In an emergency meeting on Saturday, António Guterres, secretary general of the United Nations, urged both sides to resume negotiations “to pull the region, and our world, back from the brink.”
“I call for de-escalation and an immediate cessation of hostilities. The alternative is a potential wider conflict with grave consequences for civilians and regional stability,” Guterres said.
The Trump administration has built up the largest U.S. military presence in the Middle East in decades. Some members of Congress are calling for an immediate vote to rein in the president’s ability to launch further attacks on Iran without congressional approval. Similar efforts have failed in the Republican-led Congress in the past.
