Senate Republican: Toppling Iran leadership would be ‘reset for the world'
Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) on Tuesday weighed in on the growing conflict between Iran and Israel, claiming the latter is moving toward toppling Tehran's regime and restructuring the world order.
'You're seeing Israel now with overwhelming amounts of force,' Daines told NewsNation's 'On Balance' host Leland Vittert. 'They know they've got the United States standing side by side with Israel in this very important moment.'
'Because once this regime topples, once they've destroyed Iran's nuclear capabilities, this is a reset for the Middle East and a reset for the world,' the senator added.
Israel launched airstrikes against Iran on Thursday, hitting several nuclear facilities and missile sites. The attack also killed several top leaders and scientists — leading to a counterattack by Tehran and more than five days of air warfare.
While the mission was originally pegged as an attempt to destroy Iran's development of nuclear weapons, Israel has seemingly expanded the goal to include overturning Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) rule in the Islamic republic.
'The resolve is clear. Iran presents an existential threat, not only to Israel but also to the Western world, including the United States,' Daines said Tuesday, adding, 'This is a regime that talks about Death to America, but they call Israel the Little Satan and the United States the Big Satan.'
The IRGC also funds militant groups in Palestine, Lebanon and Iraq, including Hamas. Tensions first sparked in the region over Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza.
The Palestinian militant group attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, leading to a nearly two-year war in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have pledged to eradicate the terrorist group and are now wagering the same effort against Iran.
'We have delivered significant blows to the Iranian regime, and as such, they have been pushed back into central Iran,' IDF Spokesperson BG Effie Defrin wrote on social platform X early Wednesday, after the Israeli military struck several nuclear sites in Iran.
President Trump has not ruled out the possibility of the U.S. military aiding Israel in the conflict, but did shut down plans to target the supreme leader, for now.
'We know exactly where the so-called 'Supreme Leader' is hiding,' Trump wrote Tuesday on Truth Social. 'He is an easy target, but is safe there — We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now.'
'But we don't want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers. Our patience is wearing thin,' he added, leaning into pressure for Iran to sign onto a deal that would dismantle its nuclear program.
Despite some bubbling support for Israel in their war against Iran on Capitol Hill, a bipartisan group of House lawmakers introduced a resolution Tuesday seeking to prohibit U.S. involvement in the conflict.
Khamenei on Wednesday cautioned the U.S. against joining the fight and vowed to 'never' surrender its nuclear program or to threats from Israel's allies.
'It isn't wise to tell the Iranian nation to surrender,' the Iranian leader wrote online, likely responding to Trump's pressure for an 'ultimate' surrender. 'What should the Iranian nation surrender to? We will never surrender in response to the attacks of anyone.'
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New York Times
18 minutes ago
- New York Times
Live Updates: Trump Says ‘Nobody Knows' His Plans on Iran
News ANalysis Smokes after Israeli airstrikes in Tehran on Tuesday. In Iran, Israel is carrying out the kind of broad and brazen attack that it long threatened but never dared to enact before. For nearly two decades, Israel avoided all-out war with its biggest enemies. It fought contained conflicts with Hamas, but ultimately allowed the group to retain power in Gaza. It maintained an uneasy calm with the Lebanese militia Hezbollah, even as its fighters entrenched themselves in southern Lebanon. And despite planning a major assault on Iran, it limited its attacks to smaller, clandestine operations. Israel's massive, ongoing assault on Iran highlights an extraordinary shift in Israeli military doctrine since Hamas, Iran's Palestinian ally, attacked the country in October 2023. It is a change that has redrawn the power dynamics in the Middle East, unraveled Iran's regional alliance and enshrined Israel as the dominant military force in the region. Having given Hamas years to prepare for the Oct. 7 attack, Israel reversed course afterward to unleash one of the most destructive campaigns in recent warfare. It then assassinated most of Hezbollah's leadership and decimated large parts of southern Lebanon. Now, in Iran, it is carrying out the kind of broad and brazen attack that it long threatened but never dared to enact. 'We are changing the face of the Middle East,' said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel during a press briefing on Monday. 'And this could lead to far-reaching changes within Iran itself,' he added. For now, that second claim remains unproven. The Israeli military campaign has weakened Iran, but it has not yet destroyed the country's nuclear program or collapsed its government, and it may still fall short of both. The war could also devolve into an intractable quagmire with no exit strategy or offramp. Image Iranians lined up at gas stations in Tehran on Monday. Credit... Arash Khamooshi for The New York Times Mr. Netanyahu's broader point is harder to contradict. Hamas is no longer a threat to Israel. Hezbollah's influence over Lebanon — let alone the danger it poses to Israelis — is much diminished. The government in Syria, a pillar of Iran's regional alliance, was overthrown last December, in part because Hezbollah could no longer come to its aid. These tectonic shifts also speak to a vast change within the Israeli psyche and strategic outlook since Hamas's attack in October 2023. For Israel's critics, the attack was the inevitable consequence of the country's blockade of Gaza, occupation of the West Bank, and failure to resolve the Palestinian conflict through diplomatic concessions. Many Israelis have drawn the opposite conclusion: They believe that the October attack — the deadliest in Israeli history — stemmed from Israel's failure to pre-emptively and decisively defeat its enemies. 'In the 20 years before Oct. 7, we allowed threats to develop beyond our borders, trusting that our intelligence would give us prior warnings of any attack,' said Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin, a former head of Israeli military intelligence. 'The trauma of Oct. 7 completely changed that mind-set and made us willing to take risks that we didn't take in the past,' General Yadlin said. 'We will no longer wait to be attacked, and we will not wait to be surprised.' The approach echoes Israel's strategic outlook in the early decades of its existence, when it often acted more swiftly and decisively to remove threats on its borders, General Yadlin said. The clearest example was in June 1967, when Israel pre-emptively attacked Egypt after the Egyptian military moved troops toward the Israeli border. Image Israeli fighter aircraft over the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt in June 1967. Israel's current approach in the Middle East echoes its strategic outlook in the early decades of its existence, when it often acted swiftly and decisively to remove threats on its borders. Credit... Israel Defense Forces, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images 'As Egypt massed troops on our southern border, we did not wait to be surprised,' General Yadlin said. 'Now, we are reviving that doctrine.' Israel's new approach is the culmination of months of re-evaluation, during which the military's confidence — crushed by the failures of Oct. 7 — was gradually restored. While Israel's approach to Hamas was immediately wrathful, the country was initially wary of taking on Hezbollah and Iran. Mr. Netanyahu called off a pre-emptive attack on Hezbollah in the first week of the war in 2023, amid fears that Israel would struggle to maintain a multi-front war against the Iran-led alliance. For nearly a year, Israel fought only a low-level border conflict with Hezbollah. Despite increasing clashes with Tehran in 2024, Israel limited its strikes on Iran to avoid an all-out conflict. Israel's approach began to change last September, when a sequence of unexpected moves allowed Israel to decimate much of Hezbollah's senior leadership. That increased Israel's confidence and prompted its leaders to order a more decisive assault on the group. Troops invaded southern Lebanon and the air force killed Hezbollah's secretary general, Hassan Nasrallah. Israel then severely weakened Iran's air defense systems and successfully repelled massive barrages of Iranian missiles, giving Israel greater confidence in its offensive and defensive abilities. More than a year after Oct. 7, Israeli leaders finally concluded that they had a rare window of opportunity to mount a decisive blow against Iran's nuclear program. Image An oil storage west of Tehran was hit by Israeli airstrikes on Sunday. Credit... Arash Khamooshi for The New York Times Though Israel's new approach has undercut Iran's regional influence, it has done little to resolve Israel's oldest and most intractable problem: the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In Gaza, Israel's retaliation has led to widespread destruction and bloodshed, reinstating a fearsome sense of Israeli might and reducing Hamas's threat for a generation. But the conflict has provided no clear long-term trajectory for either Gaza or the wider Palestinian question. Mr. Netanyahu has consistently ignored opportunities to end the war, balking at the idea of either leaving Hamas's remnants in charge or allowing other Palestinian groups to take over. 'Instead, we are left with only bad options,' said Tzipi Livni, a former Israeli foreign minister. 'Either occupation or chaos, rather than a diplomatic process involving moderate regional and Palestinian stakeholders that could change the reality on the ground for both Palestinians and Israelis.' A similarly aimless dynamic could yet emerge in Iran, analysts said, if the Israeli leadership fails to clearly define its goals there and set an exit strategy. For now, Israeli officials hope the United States will join the attack and help Israel destroy Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities. If the United States stays away, and if Iran refuses to stop the enrichment by choice, it is unclear whether Israel's forceful new doctrine will achieve the kind of game-changing outcomes that many Israelis desire. 'One wonders whether effective military performance is matched by a sober political vision,' said Nimrod Novik, a former senior Israeli official and a fellow at Israel Policy Forum, a research group in New York. 'Or, like in Gaza, we are left without an endgame. Time will tell.' Johnatan Reiss and Gabby Sobelman contributed reporting.
The Hill
18 minutes ago
- The Hill
Haley says US ‘should not engage in regime change in Iran': ‘Stay focused'
Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley urged President Trump to ensure the U.S. does not get involved with 'regime change' in Iran amid its conflict with Israel. 'The US should not engage in regime change in Iran,' she wrote Wednesday in a post on the social platform X. 'Our focus should only be on our national security. The Iranian regime has threatened the US with nuclear production for years.' 'We should support Israel in eliminating the Natanz and Fordo sites to prevent the threat of an atomic bomb used against us,' she continued. 'The Iranian people should decide who they want to be their leader. That's their decision, not ours. Stay focused.' Her comments come as the Trump administration weighs its response to the growing tension. Trump has not closed the door on the possibility of the U.S. interceding on behalf of Israel and striking nuclear capabilities in Tehran, reiterating the point in comments to reporters on Wednesday. 'I may do it, I may not do it,' he said, seemingly dodging the direct question. 'I mean, nobody knows what I'm going to do.' 'I can tell you this, that Iran's got a lot of trouble,' the president continued. 'And they want to negotiate. And I say why didn't you negotiate with me before all this death and destruction.' Conflict between Iran and Israel broke out last week after the latter launched a strike on Tehran's nuclear facilities and missile sites. The attack killed several top leaders and scientists, leading to several days of tit-for-tat strikes between the Middle Eastern rivals. On Wednesday, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said the U.S. was actively working to evacuate U.S. citizens from the country amid the conflict. 'Urgent notice! American citizens wanting to leave Israel — US Embassy in Israel @usembassyjlm is working on evacuation flights & cruise ship departures,' Huckabee wrote. Haley has long been a supporter of Israel in its war with Palestinian militant group Hamas — which is backed by Iran — in Gaza. After its initial attack on Tehran, Haley commended the Israeli military for taking action against Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's regime and its nuclear program. 'We have watched for too long the Iranian regime fund terrorist proxies, break all UN agreements, and build up their nuclear program,' Haley posted Friday on X. 'Their mantras have been 'Death to America' and 'Death to Israel.'' 'Israel took decisive action to put an end to Iran's nuclear capabilities and made America and the world safer. We owe them a debt of gratitude,' the former GOP presidential candidate added. 'We should continue to pray for a better life for the Iranian people away from this terrorist regime.'
Tom's Guide
18 minutes ago
- Tom's Guide
Trump just gave TikTok an extension on ban — here's what we know
Apparently, there is a calendar alert in the White House letting President Trump know when to delay enforcing the U.S. TikTok ban. Reportedly, Trump will sign a new executive order pushing the ban back by 90 days, more than the previous two 75-day delays from January and April, and the third time the president has delayed enforcement. The current delay is set to expire this Thursday (June 19). White Press secretary Karoline Levitt gave a statement to CNN revealing that the extension should be signed in the next few days. "President Trump does not want TikTok to go dark," Levitt said in her statement. "This extension will last 90 days, which the Administration will spend working to ensure this deal is closed so that the American people can continue to use TikTok with the assurance that their data is safe and secure." In May, Trump indicated during an interview with Meet the Press that he would delay the TikTok ban again, adding that he has a "warm spot" for the social media platform. At the time he claimed that a deal was in the works to keep TikTok available. Prior to the ban going into effect and since, Trump has repeatedly sought some American-based company or consortium to purchase the U.S. assets of TikTok. Mutliple offers have allegedly been put forward from Amazon to software giant Oracle and even the YouTuber MrBeast and Elon Musk. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. ByteDance, the Chinese parent company behind TikTok, has equally time and again asserted that it is not interested in selling. Additionally, any deal needs to be approved by the Chinese government, which reportedly pulled out of a potential deal in April due to Trump's imposed tariffs against Chinese goods that had reached 145% taxation at its highest. A lot has happened since the TikTok ban discussion kicked off in 2020 during Trump's first administration; here's a full timeline. The ban was cemented in place when President Joe Biden signed it into law in April of 2024. Since the law was signed, Trump changed his tune saying how much he liked the app and that he would seek to stop the ban. The bill signed by Biden was upheld by the Supreme Court this past January. From there Trump has been delaying the ban and allegedly attempting to strike a deal with ByteDance and China to see the app sold. Assuming nothing changes between now and September, which at this point it likely won't, we'll find out if Trump delays enforcement once again around the same time the iPhone 17 series launches.
