Trump said that the biggest wave of strikes on Iran is yet to come
The joint US-Israeli operation against Iran, which began on Saturday, spread to new regions on the third day. According to the parties, Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei was eliminated during the first strikes and dozens of targets were hit. Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the operation should give Iranians the opportunity to overthrow the regime. This was reported by The Public with reference to Timesofisrael.
On Monday, Trump specified the campaign's objectives, which include destroying Iran's ballistic missiles, its nuclear programme, its naval forces and ending its support for proxy groups. He noted that the biggest wave of strikes is yet to come.
"We haven't even started hitting them for real. The big wave hasn't happened yet. It's coming," Trump said on CNN.
The president did not rule out the use of ground troops. In an interview with The New York Post, he said he was not ruling out that option. At the same time, Trump expressed hope that the operation would not last too long, noting that he had initially predicted about four weeks.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hagseth said at a press conference that this was not a war for regime change, but that the regime had changed and the world was better for it. He stressed that the campaign's goals were realistic and denied that the US was embroiled in a protracted conflict. According to him, this is not Iraq and not an endless war.
Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Dan Kane said that on the first day, 100 American aircraft struck Iran in a single wave, and 1,000 targets were hit in the first 24 hours. Israel carried out hundreds of its own strikes. According to him, the US has achieved local air superiority over Iran.
The Israeli Defence Forces stated that since the start of the operation, they had destroyed about 600 Iranian regime targets, including 20 targets related to security leadership, 150 ballistic missiles and launchers, and 200 air defence systems. The air force dropped more than 2,500 bombs.
The military reported the elimination of Iranian soldiers who attempted to use the air defence system against Israeli aircraft. The statement said that Israel would not allow such systems to be used to target its aircraft.
Iran responded by intensifying its missile strikes on Israel. One of the barrages on Beersheba wounded 19 people. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced an attack on the Israeli prime minister's office in Jerusalem and the headquarters of the Israeli Air Force commander using Kheibar missiles. Netanyahu's office called this information false.
The Persian Gulf countries were also targeted. An Iranian drone struck an oil refinery in Saudi Arabia, causing a fire and halting some operations. A source close to the Saudi government told AFP that a coordinated attack on Aramco's oil infrastructure could provoke a military response from the kingdom.
Qatar reported that its air force shot down two Iranian Sukhoi Su-24 bombers. The country's Ministry of Defence said it had intercepted seven ballistic missiles and five drones from Iran. The United Arab Emirates Ministry of Defence said it had intercepted nine ballistic missiles, six cruise missiles and 148 drones on Monday. According to the ministry, Iran has fired 174 ballistic missiles at the UAE since Saturday, most of which were intercepted.
On Monday, Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel for the first time in over a year. In response, Israel struck targets belonging to the group, including in Beirut, and announced the elimination of the organisation's intelligence chief. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz announced his intention to attack Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem. The Lebanese government announced a ban on the group's military activities in the country.
In Kuwait, three American aircraft were accidentally shot down by the country's air defence forces, with no casualties. It was also reported that a fourth American soldier had died from injuries sustained earlier.
In a prepared speech, Trump called the campaign "the last best chance" to eliminate threats from the Iranian regime. He said that the US is acting faster than predicted and has the ability to continue the operation longer than initially planned.
