'Come down on you at levels never seen before': Trump warns Iran against attacking US
'Come down on you at levels never seen before': Trump warns Iran against attacking US
Show Caption
Hide Caption
Iran counterattacks, firing waves of missiles at Israel
Iran launched a missile counterattack on Israel. This comes after Israel's missile attack damaged Iranian nuclear and military sites.
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump warned Iran not to strike any U.S. targets as the conflict with Israel escalates, saying the "full strength and might" of America's military could be used against the Middle Eastern nation.
"If we are attacked in any way, shape or form by Iran, the full strength and might of the U.S. Armed Forces will come down on you at levels never seen before," he wrote in a Truth Social post at 12:32 a.m. on June 15. "However, we can easily get a deal done between Iran and Israel, and end this bloody conflict."
Trump's warning comes as Israel and Iran launched attacks at each other overnight, killing scores of people. Israeli rescue teams combed through the rubble of residential buildings destroyed in strikes to look for survivors after at least 10 people, including children, were killed.
Iran has said at least 138 people have been killed in Israel's onslaught since it began June 13, including 60 on June 14.
In all, at least 13 people in Israel have been killed and more than 350 others injured since Iran launched its retaliatory attacks.
Trump has lauded Israel's strikes and previously warned of much worse to come unless Iran quickly accepts the sharp downgrading of its nuclear program the U.S. has demanded in talks that had been due to resume on June 15.
Although Iran insists its nuclear program is for civilian energy purposes only, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations' nuclear watchdog, recently concluded that Iran was very close to reaching the 90% uranium enrichment level required to build a nuclear weapon.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Israel's attacks had been aimed at sabotaging those talks, which were due to resume in Oman before being canceled. He said the offensive had the support of the U.S., and that Iran was acting only in self-defense.
Israel, which has not signed the global nuclear non-proliferation treaty and is widely believed to possess nuclear weapons, says it aims to stop Iran from developing atomic weapons, and eliminate its ballistic missile capability.
With Israel saying its operation could last weeks, and urging Iranians to rise up against their Islamist clerical rulers, fears have grown of a regional war dragging in outside powers.
One additional element: Trump also said last month that the US will end airstrikes on Houthi militants in Yemen effective immediately.
"We will stop the bombings," Trump announced from the Oval Office, ordering Secretary of State Marco Rubio to pass on the message to the Iran-backed militant group.
Contributing: Dan Morrison, Zac Anderson and Kim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hill
5 minutes ago
- The Hill
Israel and Iran trade airstrikes for a third day as hundreds reported dead
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Israel claimed to operate almost freely in the skies over Iran during a third day of airstrikes Sunday and killed more high-ranking security figures, while some Iranian missiles slipped through Israel's air defenses. Both sides threatened to launch more attacks. In an indication of how far Israel was prepared to go amid fears of all-out war, a U.S. official told The Associated Press that President Donald Trump in recent days vetoed an Israeli plan to kill Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The Iranian Health Ministry said late Sunday that 224 people have been killed since Israel's attack began Friday. Spokesman Hossein Kermanpour said on social media that 1,277 other people were hospitalized. He asserted that more than 90% of the casualties were civilians. The paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which controls Iran's arsenal of ballistic missiles, said intelligence chief Gen. Mohammad Kazemi and two other generals were the latest killed, Iran's state TV reported Sunday night. Israel's attacks have killed several top generals and nuclear scientists. Iran also said Israel struck two oil refineries, raising the prospect of a broader assault on Iran's heavily sanctioned energy industry that could affect global markets. Israel's military warned Iranians to evacuate arms factories, signaling a further widening of the campaign. Iran's military, on state TV, warned Israelis to stay away from 'occupied' areas. Israel, the sole though undeclared nuclear-armed state in the Middle East, has said it launched the attack — its most powerful ever against Iran — to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. The two countries have been adversaries for decades. The latest U.S.-Iran talks on its nuclear program were canceled. Explosions shook the Iranian capital of Tehran. Sirens went off in Israel. The Israeli military noted 'several hit sites' Sunday night, including in Haifa in the north, and the Magen David Adom emergency service said it treated nine injured people. Israel said 14 people have been killed there since Friday and 390 wounded. Iran has fired over 270 missiles, 22 of which got through the country's sophisticated multi-tiered air defenses, according to Israeli figures. Israel's main international airport and airspace was closed for a third day. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said if Israel's strikes on Iran stop, then 'our responses will also stop.' Iran's president, Masoud Pezeshkian, criticized the United States for supporting Israel and said 'the responses will be more decisive and severe' if Israel keeps attacking, state TV reported. Trump said the U.S. 'had nothing to do with the attack' and that Iran can avoid further destruction only by agreeing to a new nuclear deal. Photos shared by Iran's ISNA News Agency showed bloodied people being helped from the scene of Israeli strikes in downtown Tehran. One man carried a blood-spattered girl. Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh said Israel hit a Foreign Ministry building in the north of Tehran, with several civilians injured 'including a number of my colleagues,' Iran's state-run IRNA news agency reported. Israeli strikes also targeted Iran's Defense Ministry after hitting air defenses, military bases and sites associated with its nuclear program. On Sunday night, Israel said it struck 'numerous' sites across Iran that produce missile and air defense components. Israel also claimed it attacked an Iranian refueling aircraft in Mashhad in the northeast, calling it the farthest strike the military had carried out. Iran did not immediately acknowledge any attack. Video obtained and verified by the AP showed smoke rising from the city. Iran's foreign minister said Israel targeted an oil refinery near Tehran and another in a province on the Persian Gulf. State television reported that metro stations and mosques would be made available as bomb shelters beginning Sunday night. Earlier Sunday in Israel, at least six people, including a 10-year-old and a 9-year-old, were killed when a missile hit an apartment building in Bat Yam, near Tel Aviv. Daniel Hadad, a local police commander, said 180 people were wounded and seven were missing. Another four people, including a 13-year-old, were killed and 24 wounded when a missile struck a building in the Arab town of Tamra in northern Israel. A strike on the central city of Rehovot wounded 42. The Weizmann Institute of Science, an important center for military and other research in Rehovot, reported 'a number of hits to buildings on the campus' and said no one was harmed. An oil refinery was damaged in the northern Israeli city of Haifa, according to the firm operating it, which said no one was wounded. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has brushed off urgent calls by world leaders to deescalate. In an interview with Fox News on Sunday, he said regime change in Iran 'could certainly be the result' of the conflict. He also claimed, without giving evidence, that Israeli intelligence indicated Iran intended to give nuclear weapons to Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. Iran has always said its nuclear program was peaceful, and the U.S. and others have assessed that it has not pursued a weapon since 2003. But Iran has enriched ever larger stockpiles of uranium to near weapons-grade levels in recent years and was believed to have the capacity to develop multiple weapons within months if it chose to do so. The U.N.'s atomic watchdog issued a rare censure of Iran last week. A senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive nuclear talks, said Washington remained committed to them and hoped the Iranians would return to the table. The region is already on edge as Israel seeks to annihilate Hamas, an Iranian ally, in the Gaza Strip, where war still rages after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack. In a social media post, Trump warned Iran that any retaliation directed against it would bring an American response 'at levels never seen before.' In Iran, satellite photos analyzed by AP show extensive damage at Iran's main nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz. The images shot Saturday by Planet Labs PBC show multiple buildings damaged or destroyed. The structures hit include buildings identified by experts as supplying power to the facility. U.N. nuclear chief Rafael Grossi told the Security Council that the above-ground section of the Natanz facility was destroyed. The main centrifuge facility underground did not appear to be hit, but the loss of power could have damaged infrastructure there, he said. Israel also struck a nuclear research facility in Isfahan. The International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, said four 'critical buildings' were damaged, including Isfahan's uranium-conversion facility. The IAEA said there was no sign of increased radiation at Natanz or Isfahan. An Israeli military official, speaking on condition of anonymity Sunday in line with official procedures, said it would take 'many months, maybe more' to restore the two sites. ___ Melzer reported from Nahariya, Israel, and Goldenberg from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press writers Nasser Karimi and Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran; Aamer Madhani in Washington; Sam Mednick and Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, and Julia Frankel in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
Wall Street Journal
6 minutes ago
- Wall Street Journal
The Fordow Imperative—for Trump and Israel
Israel continues to bomb key Iranian military sites, while Iran is firing missiles at Israeli cities. Central to an Israeli strategic victory will be whether it can destroy Iran's main nuclear-weapons sites, and that effort deserves American help. Israel's bombing is first and foremost an anti-nuclear-proliferation campaign. Other goals include attriting Tehran's ballistic-missile capacity, which the regime had been escalating to be able to produce hundreds a month. Israel has also begun to target Iran's domestic oil and gas supply chains after Iran's attacks on Israeli civilian populations.
Axios
10 minutes ago
- Axios
Denver police arrest 36 during anti-ICE protests
Denver police arrested 36 people during a protest downtown Saturday night, deploying smoke and pepper balls to disperse crowds, multiple news outlets reported. Why it matters: The use of crowd-control measures like smoke was an escalation from earlier Saturday, when thousands of anti-Trump marchers participating in the "No Kings" protest remained largely peaceful. State of play: An anti-ICE demonstration organized by the Denver Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL Denver) started shortly after the initial "No Kings" protest ended downtown around 4pm. Some of the people who participated in the evening protest were also part of the earlier demonstration, Axios observed Saturday. Yes, but: DPD said "the vast majority of people" participating in the "No Kings" protest left after the event ended. A separate group of people were protesting Saturday night when the arrests occurred, police said. Between the lines: Protesters were arrested on investigative charges including failure to obey a lawful order, obstruction of streets, and unlawful throwing of projectiles, police said Sunday. At least one group attempted to enter I-25 near 20th and Blake streets, while others allegedly threw objects including rocks and bottles at police officers. Officers used loudspeakers to discourage people from entering the highway, though some protesters tried pushing through a line of officers, which DPD declared an "unlawful assembly," per Denver 7. Between the lines: Police used pepper balls and launched smoke, but did not use tear gas, a department spokesperson told CBS Colorado.
