Trump asks why there would not be 'regime change' in Iran
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday questioned the possibility of regime change in Iran following U.S. military strikes against key Iran military sites over the weekend.
"It's not politically correct to use the term, 'Regime Change,' but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn't there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!!" Trump wrote on his social media platform.
(Reporting by Pete Schroeder and Susan Heavey; Editing by Chris Reese)
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Malay Mail
15 minutes ago
- Malay Mail
US warns Iran against retaliation as Trump hints at ‘regime change' after strikes
WASHINGTON, June 23 — US President Donald Trump on Sunday raised the question of regime change in Iran following US strikes against key military sites over the weekend, as senior officials in his administration warned Tehran against retaliation. 'It's not politically correct to use the term, 'Regime Change,' but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn't there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!!' Trump wrote on his social media platform. Trump's post came after officials in his administration, including US Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, stressed they were not working to overthrow Iran's government. 'This mission was not and has not been about regime change,' Hegseth told reporters at the Pentagon, calling the mission 'a precision operation' targeting Iran's nuclear programme. Vance, in an interview on NBC's Meet the Press with Kristen Welker, said 'our view has been very clear that we don't want a regime change.' 'We do not want to protract this or build this out any more than it's already been built out. We want to end their nuclear programme, and then we want to talk to the Iranians about a long-term settlement here,' Vance said, adding the US 'had no interest in boots on the ground.' 'Operation Midnight Hammer' was known only to a small number of people in Washington and at the US military's headquarters for Middle East operations in Tampa, Florida. Complete with deception, seven B-2 bombers flew for 18 hours from the United States into Iran to drop 14 bunker-buster bombs, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, told reporters. In total, the US launched 75 precision-guided munitions, including more than two dozen Tomahawk missiles, and more than 125 military aircraft in the operation against three nuclear sites, Caine said. The operation pushes the Middle East to the brink of a major new conflagration in a region already aflame for more than 20 months with wars in Gaza and Lebanon, and a toppled dictator in Syria. Damage to facilities With the damage visible from space after 30,000-pound US bunker-buster bombs crashed into the mountain above Iran's Fordow nuclear site, experts and officials are closely watching how far the strikes might have set back Iran's nuclear ambitions. Caine said initial battle damage assessments indicated all three sites sustained extremely severe damage and destruction, but he declined to speculate whether any Iranian nuclear capabilities might still be intact. UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi was more cautious, saying while it was clear US airstrikes hit Iran's enrichment site at Fordow, it was not yet possible to assess the damage done underground. A senior Iranian source told Reuters on Sunday that most of the highly enriched uranium at Fordow, the site producing the bulk of Iran's uranium refined to up to 60 per cent, had been moved to an undisclosed location before the US attack. Vance told NBC the US was not at war with Iran but rather its nuclear programme, and he thought the strikes 'really pushed their programme back by a very long time.' Trump called the damage 'monumental,' in a separate social media post on Sunday, a day after saying he had 'obliterated' Iran's main nuclear sites, but gave no details. Tehran has vowed to defend itself and responded with a volley of missiles at Israel that wounded scores of people and destroyed buildings in its commercial hub Tel Aviv. But, perhaps in an effort to avert all-out war with the superpower, it had yet to carry out its main threats of retaliation, to target US bases or choke off the quarter of the world's oil shipments that pass through its waters. Caine said the US military had increased protection of troops in the region, including in Iraq and Syria. The United States already 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 any potential Iranian attack. Not open-ended 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 that it had to be a certain action taken in order 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 say 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.' — Reuters
Malay Mail
41 minutes ago
- Malay Mail
Iran warns US bases could be targeted after strikes on its nuclear sites
WASHINGTON, June 23 — Iran on Sunday threatened US bases in the Middle East after massive air strikes that Washington said had destroyed Tehran's nuclear programme, though some officials cautioned that the extent of damage was unclear. International concern focused on fears that the unprecedented US attacks would deepen conflict in the volatile region after Israel launched a bombing campaign against Iran earlier this month. Ali Akbar Velayati, an advisor to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said bases used by US forces could be attacked in retaliation. 'Any country in the region or elsewhere that is used by American forces to strike Iran will be considered a legitimate target for our armed forces,' he said in a message carried by the official IRNA news agency. 'America has attacked the heart of the Islamic world and must await irreparable consequences.' President Donald Trump urged Iran to end the conflict after he launched surprise strikes on a key underground uranium enrichment site at Fordo, along with nuclear facilities in Isfahan and Natanz. 'We had a spectacular military success yesterday, taking the 'bomb' right out of their hands (and they would use it if they could!)' he said on social media. And while the US president did not directly advocate regime change in the Islamic republic, he openly played with the idea — even after his aides stressed that was not a goal of American intervention. 'It's not politically correct to use the term, 'Regime Change,' Trump posted on his Truth Social platform. 'But if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn't there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!!' Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told a Pentagon press briefing earlier that Iran's nuclear programme had been 'devastated,' adding the operation 'did not target Iranian troops or the Iranian people.' Standing beside Hegseth, top US general Dan Caine said that while it would be 'way too early' for him to determine the level of destruction, 'initial battle damage assessments indicate that all three sites sustained extremely severe damage and destruction.' Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meanwhile said his country's military strikes will 'finish' once the stated objectives of destroying Iran's nuclear and missile capabilities have been achieved. 'We are very, very close to completing them,' he told reporters. Tehran protests As Iran's leaders struck defiant tones, President Masoud Pezeshkian also vowed that the United States would 'receive a response' to the attacks. People gathered Sunday in central Tehran to protest against US and Israeli attacks, waving flags and chanting slogans. In the province of Semnan east of the capital, 46-year-old housewife Samireh told AFP she was 'truly shocked' by the strikes. 'Semnan province is very far from the nuclear facilities targeted, but I'm very concerned for the people who live near,' she said. In an address to the nation hours after the attack, Trump claimed success for the operation, and Vice President JD Vance followed up Sunday morning. 'We know that we set the Iranian nuclear programme back substantially last night,' Vance told ABC. But he also suggested Iran still had its highly enriched uranium. 'We're going to work in the coming weeks to ensure that we do something with that fuel,' he said. 'They no longer have the capacity to turn that stockpile of highly enriched uranium to weapons-grade uranium.' Another Khamenei advisor, Ali Shamkhani, said in a post on X that 'even if nuclear sites are destroyed, game isn't over, enriched materials, indigenous knowledge, political will remain.' Rafael Grossi, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council that craters were visible at the Fordo facility, but no one had been able to assess the underground damage. He added that attacks on nuclear facilities could cause radiation leaks, but the IAEA had not detected any. Retaliation risk Israel's military was checking results of the US raid on the deeply buried nuclear facility in Fordo, with a spokesman saying it was uncertain if Iran had already removed enriched uranium from the site. The main US strike group was seven B-2 Spirit bombers that flew 18 hours from the American mainland to Iran. Trump said Sunday the planes had landed safely on US soil after the marathon mission. In response to the attack, which used over a dozen massive 'bunker buster' bombs, Iran's armed forces targeted sites in Israel including Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, with at least 23 people wounded. Nine members of the Revolutionary Guards were killed Sunday in Israeli attacks on central Iran, local media reported, while three people were killed after an ambulance was also struck. Israeli strikes on Iran have killed more than 400 people so far, Iran's health ministry said. Iran's attacks on Israel have killed 24 people, according to official figures. The United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Oman, which had been mediating Iran-US nuclear talks, criticised the US strikes and called for de-escalation. French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday warned against an 'uncontrolled escalation' in the Middle East, as he and his German and British counterparts called on Tehran 'not to take any further action that could destabilize the region.' — AFP
The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
Leaders slam US strikes on Iran
Call for restraint: (From left) Anwar, Mahfuz and Abdul Hadi denounced US attacks on Iran, calling it a violation of international law and a threat to global peace. PETALING JAYA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Malaysian political leaders stood together in their condemnation of the military strikes by the United States on Iran, describing the attacks as a violation of international law and a threat to global stability. The leaders are calling for immediate international action, including intervention by the United Nations and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). During a function in Kuching yesterday, Anwar urged the international community to apply pressure on Israel to stop its provocative and aggressive actions. He said lasting peace could only be achieved if Israel ceases its violent conduct towards other countries. 'For genuine peace to be realised, Israel must be pressured to stop being provocative and violent towards other nations,' he said. Anwar said Malaysia has taken a fair and balanced stance on the issue. 'When you launch attacks and kill people, of course, there will be retaliation from Iran,' he said. He also said the continued killing of civilians in Gaza, including women and children, and the latest strikes on Iran, have worsened the situation, especially with foreign involvement from countries like the United States. 'Now they are attacking Iran, and Iran has chosen to fight back. The intervention by external powers such as the United States will only escalate the conflict further,' he added. He also warned that the closure of the Strait of Hormuz will have serious implications for the global economy. Anwar said Malaysia must continue to speak out in defence of human rights and justice. 'For me, the most important thing is the sanctity of human life and justice. Stop the violence. 'People say Iran should not respond, but why is Israel allowed to act with such impunity? 'Malaysia is compelled to voice our position. We must not allow a sovereign and independent nation to be silenced when it comes to speaking out about human rights and justice,' he added. Amanah vice-president Datuk Mahfuz Omar urged Putrajaya to convene an emergency parliamentary sitting to discuss the attacks. He said the sitting should discuss Malaysia's official stand and diplomatic response to the conflict; the potential geopolitical and economic impacts on the country, including supply chains, oil prices and regional security; and possible humanitarian assistance that Malaysia could extend to Iranian civilians affected by the violence. 'Parliament should be the platform through which the voice of the Malaysian people is conveyed in a lawful and dignified manner. 'Malaysia has a responsibility to continue playing an active role in promoting global peace through our involvement in the UN, the OIC, the Non-Aligned Movement and Asean. 'I call on the Prime Minister to urgently consider the need for a special parliamentary sitting in defence of the values of justice and universal humanity,' he said. PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang urged the UN Security Council and the OIC to take firm action to stop what he called an uncivilised act of aggression. He warned that failure to act could further destabilise the region and endanger the prospects of global peace. 'The attack not only violates Iran's sovereignty but also constitutes a war crime that clearly breaches international law and the UN Charter. 'PAS is calling for strong and immediate action from the UN Security Council and the OIC to halt this aggression and to condemn the arrogance of the United States, which remains a staunch ally of the illegitimate Israeli regime,' he said.
