US warns against retaliation by Iran as Trump raises ‘regime change'
Caine said the US military had increased protection of troops in the region, including in Iraq and Syria. The US has a sizeable force in the Middle East, with nearly 40,000 troops in the region, including air defence systems, fighter aircraft and warships that can detect and shoot down enemy missiles.
Reuters reported last week the Pentagon had started to move some aircraft and ships from bases in the Middle East that may be vulnerable to a potential Iranian attack.
With his unprecedented decision to bomb Iran's nuclear sites, directly joining Israel's air attack on its regional arch foe, Trump has done something he had long vowed to avoid — intervene militarily in a major foreign war.
There were sporadic anti-war demonstrations on Sunday afternoon in some US cities, including New York City and Washington. It was unclear why Trump chose to act on Saturday.
At the press conference, Hegseth said there was a moment in time when Trump 'realised it had to be a certain action taken to minimise the threat to us and our troops'.
After Trump disputed her original assessment, director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard on Friday said the US had intelligence that should Iran decide to do so, it could build a nuclear weapon in weeks or months, an assessment disputed by some lawmakers and independent experts. US officials said they do not believe Iran had decided to make a bomb.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio, asked on CBS' Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan whether the US saw intelligence that Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had ordered nuclear weaponisation, said: 'That's irrelevant.'
Hegseth, who said the Pentagon notified lawmakers about the operation after US aircraft were out of Iran, said the strikes against Iran were not open-ended. Rubio also said no more strikes were planned, unless Iran responded, telling CBS: 'We have other targets we can hit, but we achieved our objective. There are no planned military operations right now against Iran, unless they mess around.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
eNCA
44 minutes ago
- eNCA
Trump hints at Iran regime change
JOHANNESBURG -US president Donald Trump has hinted at a potential regime change in Iran, after attacks on three Iranian nuclear sites. Trump posted on his Truth Social platform, questioning whether the current regime, is able to "Make Iran Great Again'. His position contrasts with some his officials, who have been saying the military strike was not aimed at regime change.
IOL News
an hour ago
- IOL News
IAEA seeks access to Iran nuclear sites to 'account for' highly enriched uranium stockpiles
A worker rides a bike in front of the reactor building of the Bushehr nuclear power plant, just outside the southern city of Bushehr, Iran. Image: File. The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog on Monday called for its inspectors to be able to return to Iran's nuclear sites in a bid to "account for" its highly enriched uranium stockpiles. He called for a cessation of hostilities. The request follows attacks by Israel and the United States on Iran's nuclear facilities. "Iran, Israel and the Middle East need peace," Rafael Grossi, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told an emergency meeting of the organisation's board of governors in Vienna. "For that, we must take a number of steps," he said. "First of all, we must return to the negotiating table and for that allow IAEA inspectors -- the guardians on our behalf of the NPT (nuclear non-proliferation treaty) -- to go back to Iran's nuclear sites and account for the stockpiles of uranium, including, most importantly, the 400 kilogrammes enriched to 60 percent." Grossi said Tehran had sent him a letter on June 13 announcing the implementation of "special measures to protect nuclear equipment and materials". "There needs to be a cessation of hostilities for the necessary safety and security conditions to prevail so that Iran can let IAEA teams into the sites to assess the situation," he said. Over the weekend, the United States struck three Iranian nuclear sites, joining Israel's bombardments of Iran's nuclear programme. "Craters are now visible at the Fordo site, Iran's main facility for enriching uranium at 60 percent, indicating the use of ground-penetrating munitions," he said. He added that "very significant damage" is expected to have occurred for the US bombing "given the explosive payload utilised and the extreme vibration-sensitive nature of centrifuges". "At this time, no-one including the IAEA, is in a position to have fully assessed the underground damage at Fordo," he said. The US strikes came after Israel began launching large-scale attacks on Iran on June 13 targeting its missile and nuclear facilities, military leaders and security services, and residential sites. Iran's uranium enrichment has for decades caused tension, with Western powers voicing fears the drive is aimed at making an atomic bomb, a claim denied by Tehran. Israel has maintained ambiguity about its own atomic arsenal, neither officially confirming nor denying it exists, but the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute has estimated it has 90 nuclear warheads. European powers have urged Tehran to revive diplomatic efforts with the United States to find a solution in the standoff over its nuclear programme. Iran has said it can only consider diplomacy once Israel halts its bombardment of the Islamic republic. AFP
Daily Maverick
an hour ago
- Daily Maverick
IAEA chief expects ‘very significant damage' at Iran's Fordow site
The United States dropped the biggest conventional bombs in its arsenal on Iranian nuclear facilities on Sunday, using those bunker-busting munitions in combat for the first time to try to eliminate sites including the Fordow uranium-enrichment plant dug into a mountain. 'At this time, no one, including the IAEA, is in a position to have fully assessed the underground damage at Fordow,' Grossi said in a statement to an emergency meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-nation Board of Governors. The IAEA has not been able to carry out inspections in Iran since Israel started its military strikes on nuclear facilities there on June 13. 'Given the explosive payload utilised and the extreme(ly) vibration-sensitive nature of centrifuges, very significant damage is expected to have occurred,' Grossi added. Beyond the level of damage done to Fordow's underground enrichment halls, one of the biggest open questions is the status of its stock of enriched uranium, particularly its more than 400 kg of uranium enriched to up to 60% purity, a short step from the roughly 90% that is weapons grade. That is enough, if enriched further, for nine nuclear weapons, according to an IAEA yardstick, though Iran says its intentions are peaceful and it does not seek atom bombs. Iran did, however, inform the IAEA on June 13 that it would take 'special measures' to protect its nuclear materials and equipment that are under so-called IAEA safeguards, the oversight provided for by the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Grossi said. 'In my response that same day, I indicated that any transfer of nuclear material from a safeguarded facility to another location in Iran must be declared to the agency,' Grossi said. 'Any special measures by Iran to protect its nuclear materials and equipment … can be done in accordance with Iran's safeguards obligations … This is possible.'
