Israel says Iran will pay for hospital airstrike; world awaits Trump decision: Live
Israel says Iran will pay for hospital airstrike; world awaits Trump decision: Live Israel bombed Iran's only working nuclear reactor, a power plant on the Persian Gulf coast.
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Who is Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader?
As President Donald Trump and Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei trade threats, here's what to know about the Iranian official.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed revenge after a hospital was struck by an Iranian ballistic missile, as the world waited for news of whether President Donald Trump would commit U.S. forces to Israel's campaign against Iran's nuclear program.
"This morning, Iran's terrorist tyrants launched missiles at Soroka Hospital in Beersheba and at a civilian population in the center of the country," Netanyahu said in a statement. "We will exact the full price from the tyrants in Tehran."
The conflict has killed hundreds of Iranians and scores of Israelis since Israel launched a surprise attack on nuclear and military targets on June 13. Israeli warplanes struck three nuclear sites in Iran on June 18, while a military spokesman walked back an earlier Israeli claim to have bombed Iran's only functioning nuclear power plant.
Follow along with USA TODAY for live updates.
More: 40,000 reasons to worry: U.S. troops in Middle East could face Iran blowback
Iran's state-owned IRNA news outlet said its ballistic missiles were aimed at Israeli Defense Forces and intelligence targets located in the same area.
'The claim of an attack on an intelligence base or the presence of military equipment under the hospital is another lie. We are not so despicable as to endanger civilians,' the IDF said in a Persian-language statement, the Times of Israel reported. 'Attacking hospitals is a crime. Fabricating a reason does not justify it.'
No deaths were reported in the attack. Six people were seriously injured, emergency workers said.
The 'vast majority' of President Donald Trump's MAGA movement 'will get on board' with strikes on Iran, if he goes ahead with military action, his former chief White House strategist Steve Bannon says.
Should he decide there's no diplomatic solution to be had, Trump will need to walk the American people and MAGA through his thinking, Bannon told reporters at a June 18 breakfast hosted by Christian Science Monitor. But Trump is also likely to win ove most of his naysaying supporters.
'There will be some, but the vast majority of the MAGA movement will go, 'look, we trust your judgement, you've walked us through this, we don't like it, in fact maybe we hate it, but we'll get on board,'' Bannon said.
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