DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Israel and the United States pounded Iran on Monday in a campaign that U.S. President Donald Trump said would likely take several weeks. Tehran and its allies hit back against Israel, Gulf states and targets critical to the world’s energy production.
The intensity of the attacks, the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the lack of any apparent exit plan set the stage for a prolonged conflict with far-reaching consequences. Safe havens in the Mideast like Dubai have seen incoming fire; hundreds of thousands of airline passengers are stranded around the globe; oil prices shot up; and U.S. allies pledged to help stop Iranian missiles and drones.
With no sign of the conflict abating anytime soon, Trump said operations are likely to last four to five weeks but that he was prepared “to go far longer than that.”
He said U.S. forces were determined to destroy Iran’s missile capabilities, wipe out its navy, prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon and ensure that it cannot continue to support allied groups like Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which fired missiles at Israel, drawing retaliatory airstrikes.
“This was our last, best chance to strike — what we’re doing right now — and eliminate the intolerable threats posed by this sick and sinister regime,” Trump said.
The chaos of the conflict became apparent when the U.S. military said Kuwait had “mistakenly shot down” three American F-15E Strike Eagles while Iran was attacking with aircraft, ballistic missiles, and drones. U.S. Central Command said all six pilots ejected safely and are in stable condition.
As several airstrikes hit Iran’s capital, Tehran, the top security official Ali Larijani vowed on X: “We will not negotiate with the United States.”
Iran expands attacks to regional energy facilities
World markets were rattled as the fighting expanded across a region vital to energy supplies.
Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura oil refinery came under attack from drones, but its defenses downed the incoming aircraft, a military spokesman told the state-run Saudi Press Agency. The refinery has a capacity of over half a million barrels of crude oil a day.
“The attack on Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura refinery marks a significant escalation, with Gulf energy infrastructure now squarely in Iran’s sights,” said Torbjorn Soltvedt, an analyst at the risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft.
The Gulf state of Qatar said its air force had shot down two Iranian Sukhoi Su-24 bombers, and QatarEnergy said it would stop producing liquefied natural gas indefinitely, taking one of the world’s top suppliers off the market. European natural gas prices surged by 40% in response.
Several ships have been attacked in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all oil traded passes and where Iran has threatened attacks.
The Gulf is also a hub for air travel, and passengers have been stranded around the world as carriers based there grounded flights. Long-haul carriers Etihad and Emirates restarted limited flights Monday.
Iran says nuclear site was targeted
Reza Najafi, Iran’s ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, told reporters that airstrikes targeted the Natanz nuclear enrichment site on Sunday.
“Their justification that Iran wants to develop nuclear weapons is simply a big lie,” he said.
Israel and the U.S. have not acknowledged strikes at the site, which the U.S. bombed in the 12-day war between Iran and Israel in June. Israel has said it is targeting the “leadership and nuclear infrastructure.”
Iran has said it has not enriched uranium since June, though it has maintained its right to do so while saying its nuclear program is entirely peaceful.
The death toll grew on all sides
The Iranian Red Crescent Society said the U.S.-Israeli operation has killed at least 555 people. In Israel, where several locations were hit by Iranian missiles, 11 people were killed. Israel’s retaliatory strikes against Hezbollah killed dozens of people in Lebanon.
The U.S. military announced that two previously unaccounted for American service members have been confirmed dead, bringing the total to six. Three people were reported killed in the United Arab Emirates, and one each in Kuwait and Bahrain.
Iran’s top diplomat on Monday shared an aerial photo showing rows of graves that he said were for more than 160 girls killed during a U.S.-Israeli strike on an elementary school in Minab. “Their bodies were torn to shreds,” Abbas Araghchi, the country’s foreign minister, said on X.
In Israel, three young siblings killed by an Iranian strike were being laid to rest at the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem on Monday night. Yaakov, 16, Avigail 15, and Sarah Biton, 13, were among the nine killed Sunday when a missile slammed into a shelter located in a synagogue in Beit Shemesh.
Hezbollah fires on Israel, prompting massive response
Hezbollah said it fired missiles on Israel early Monday in response to Khamenei’s killing and “repeated Israeli aggressions.” It was the first time in more than a year that the militant group has claimed an attack.
There were no reports of injuries or damage.
Israel retaliated with strikes on Lebanon. The country’s Health Ministry reported at least 52 people were killed and 154 wounded in overnight strikes in the Beirut suburbs and southern Lebanon. Associated Press journalists in Beirut were jolted awake by loud explosions that shook buildings and shattered windows.
Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, the Israeli army chief of staff, said the military would not end its offensive against Hezbollah “before the threat from Lebanon is eliminated.”
The Israeli military said it had completed a wave of strikes targeting branches of al-Qard al-Hasan, a charity operating outside the Lebanese financial system that Israel says is used to fund Hezbollah’s military wing. An Israeli airstrike in Beirut heavily damaged a building, as the military said it targeted a senior Hezbollah official.
No end in sight to the US-Israeli campaign
The U.S. military, which has used B-2 stealth bombers to strike Iran’s ballistic missile facilities with 2,000-pound bombs, said Monday that it had taken out 11 Iranian warships. Trump has said the Iranian navy’s headquarters had been “largely destroyed.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters Monday that the U.S. is not engaged in a nation-building effort in Iran, saying, “This is not Iraq. This is not endless,” Hegseth said.
Danny Danon, the Israeli ambassador to the U.N., said the conflict would continue “as long as it takes.” An Israeli military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin, said Israel is keeping “all options on the table,” including a potential ground invasion of Lebanon.
It’s not completely clear what the U.S. objectives are. In announcing the initial strikes, Trump referred to the threat posed by Iran’s nuclear and missile programs, a point echoed Monday by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who said the purpose of the mission was to destroy the country’s capabilities and prevent any redevelopment. Trump has also listed various grievances dating to Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution and urged Iranians to “take over” their government.
There have been no signs yet of any such uprising.
Trump, however, has also signaled he would be open to dialogue with Iran’s new leadership, which could be chosen soon.
Tehran’s streets are deserted
Tehran’s streets have been largely deserted with people sheltering during airstrikes. The paramilitary Basij force, which has played a central role in crushing recent nationwide protests, set up checkpoints across the city, witnesses said.
In the northern Iranian city of Babol, a student, speaking anonymously over concerns of retribution, told the AP that armed riot police were on the streets Saturday night and into the early hours of Sunday after the death of Khamenei.
“We don’t know whether to be happy about the elimination of the criminals who oppress us or to remain silent in the face of the U.S. and Israel’s war against the country and its interests and the terror that is taking place,” he said.
States Newsroom
For the Indiana Capital Chronicle
WASHINGTON — The U.S. war on Iran will continue unabated on President Donald Trump’s terms, with more troops on the way and more casualties expected, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth told reporters early Monday.
Speaking to the press for the first time since the United States and Israel launched a massive attack early Saturday, the secretary, whose comments came as the military announced the fourth U.S. service member killed, would not specify a timeline or exit strategy for the mission.
“We will finish this on America first conditions of President Trump’s choosing, nobody else’s, as it should be,” Hegseth said.
Hegseth did not provide details about the three U.S. service members whose deaths were announced Sunday. The secretary said that “a squirter” — apparently referring to an offensive missile or drone — was not intercepted by air defense systems.
“And in that particular case, (it) happened to hit a tactical operation center that was fortified, but these are powerful weapons,” Hegseth told reporters.
The Associated Press reported Sunday the troops were U.S. Army soldiers deployed to Kuwait.
‘Not a single overnight operation’
More U.S. troops and airpower are expected to arrive in the region Monday, according to Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine.
“This is not a single overnight operation. The military objectives that (U.S. Central Command) and the Joint Force have been tasked with will take some time to achieve, and in some cases will be difficult and gritty work. We expect to take additional losses, and as always, we will work to minimize U.S. losses,” Caine said at the press conference alongside Hegseth.
The escalating conflict has jolted the region and rocked world energy markets as Iran continues retaliatory strikes across the Gulf nations.
Nuclear ambitions cited
The secretary said the mission, dubbed by the administration as Operation Epic Fury, is “laser focused” on eliminating Iran’s nuclear ambitions by destroying its offensive missile stockpile and production facilities, as well as its naval and security infrastructure.
“We’re hitting them surgically, overwhelmingly, and unapologetically with every passing day. Our capabilities get stronger and Iran’s get weaker. We set the terms of this war from start to finish,” Hegseth said.
The secretary sidestepped a question on how much of Iran’s infrastructure has been destroyed since Saturday. Caine said assessing what remains of Iran’s long-range strike capabilities “will take some time.”
Iran retaliation
The conflict rapidly spread Sunday and into Monday across the Middle East, as Iran launched retaliatory missiles and drones following the targeted fatal strike by Israeli defense forces and U.S. intelligence of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
On Monday, Iran attacked key energy infrastructure, interrupting oil and gas production in Qatar and Saudi Arabia, two of the world’s largest suppliers, according to international media outlets.
Gulf nations, usually safe havens and luxury getaways in the volatile region, ground to a halt as strikes and debris from intercepted missiles damaged the United Arab Emirates’ Dubai International Airport, one of the world’s busiest, and nearby iconic tourist destinations, according to Reuters.
The U.S. State Department issued directives for Americans in the region, including a shelter-in-place order Sunday for all U.S. embassy staff in Qatar as airspace remained closed.
Jets go down over Kuwait
No deaths were reported after three U.S. F-15 fighter jets crashed over Kuwait Monday in an apparent friendly fire incident, according to U.S. Central Command. Video of an apparent U.S. fighter jet falling from the sky circulated on social media Monday.
The fighting spread to Lebanon after Iranian-backed Hezbollah fighters fired rockets into Israel. Israel returned fire, including in Lebanon’s capital, Beirut. Several media outlets reported casualties, citing Lebanon’s health officials.
Nine people were killed Sunday in central Israel after a missile hit a synagogue bomb shelter, The Associated Press reported.
Buildup of troops over past month
The administration began amassing thousands of troops, aircraft and naval ships over the past 30 days in the region, including relocating its largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald Ford, from its position in the southern hemisphere where U.S. troops apprehended Venezuela’s leader on Jan. 3.
The “rapid buildup,” Caine said, included service members from Wisconsin’s Army National Guard, which was operating in Kuwait and Iraq, and Air National Guard units from various states, including Vermont and Virginia.
Caine would not answer questions about the total number of U.S. troops involved.
Trump gave the final order for the attack on Friday, just before 4 p.m. Eastern, and joint strikes with Israel’s forces commenced overnight Saturday, at 9:45 a.m. Tehran time.
“The president directed, and I quote, ‘Operation Epic Fury is approved. No aborts, good luck,’” according to Caine.
Operations centers in Tampa, Florida and at the Pentagon directed strikes on more than 1,000 targets in the first 24 hours, Caine said.
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