Israel targets Iranian leaders in strikes Sunday, as Iran vows revenge for death of supreme leader
by Vaughn Cockayne · The Washington TimesThe White House is open to talks with new leadership in Tehran, President Trump said Sunday, even as Iran launched retaliatory strikes against Israel and Gulf states and the U.S. military suffered its first deaths in the campaign against the Islamic republic.
Mr. Trump did not identify whom he had spoken to but confirmed that the two nations had been in contact in the hours after the U.S. and Israel launched a massive attack on key military and political sites across Iran on Saturday. His comments suggested that the White House could be looking toward an eventual end to the fighting, though the president also vowed that the operation would continue at “full force” until all U.S. objectives are achieved. The conflict has drawn in nations across the Middle East and is reshaping regional power dynamics in real time.
“They want to talk, and I have agreed to talk, so I will be talking to them,” the president said in an interview with The Atlantic. “They should have done it sooner. They should have given what was very practical and easy to do sooner. They waited too long.”
The president said he was pleased with how the mission, dubbed Operation Epic Fury, was being handled and that he was happy some Iranians were celebrating the death of their supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Ayatollah Khamenei was killed during U.S. and Israeli military strikes Saturday, alongside scores of other top Iranian military officials. An interim leadership council is now governing Iran and will remain in charge until a new supreme leader is appointed, Iranian officials said.
Still, it’s not clear exactly how the leadership vacuum created by the loss of Ayatollah Khamenei will be filled.
Troubling signs indicate that the ayatollah’s death could spark a worldwide wave of terrorism.
The FBI said Sunday that the shooter who killed two and wounded more than a dozen people at a bar in Austin, Texas, may have had ties to Islamic terrorism. The gunman wore a sweatshirt that said “Property of Allah” and another shirt with an Iranian flag design, law enforcement sources said.
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Sweeping U.S. assault
Operation Epic Fury, considered the most sweeping and ambitious U.S. military mission in the Middle East since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, struck more than 1,000 targets in Iran, using a massive arsenal of U.S. assets, including B-2 Bombers, Patriot Interceptor Systems, F-18 fighter jets, MQ-9 Reapers and LUCAS drones, the Pentagon said. The operation marked the first time U.S. forces have used one-way attack drones in combat, military officials said.
Targets included the command bases for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, its air defense batteries, ballistic missile sites and naval vessels, according to U.S. Central Command. CENTCOM announced Sunday that it had destroyed the headquarters of the IRGC, marking a major blow to Iran’s military infrastructure and further weakening a devastated leadership structure at the highest levels in Tehran.
Mr. Trump said U.S. forces sank nine vessels during the operation, dealing a severe blow to the Iranian navy.
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“We are going after the rest — They will soon be floating at the bottom of the sea, also!” he posted on Truth Social. “In a different attack, we largely destroyed their Naval Headquarters. Other than that, their Navy is doing very well!”
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The U.S. also felt the impact of the conflict.
At least three U.S. service members were killed and five severely wounded during the operation, CENTCOM said, marking the first U.S. casualties of the campaign. The Pentagon did not reveal where the troops were stationed or how they were killed. Mr. Trump has warned repeatedly that American casualties would likely result from the operation.
Mr. Trump, who announced the attacks in a video address early Saturday, said the operation’s objective would be to eliminate Iran’s missile industry, navy and nuclear program.
“Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime,” Mr. Trump said in a video address posted on social media. “A vicious group of very hard, terrible people. Its menacing activities directly endanger the United States, our troops, our bases overseas, and our allies throughout the world.”
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The attacks effectively ended weeks of diplomatic talks between Washington and Tehran, which aimed to reach a deal to limit Iran’s nuclear program. The two sides held three rounds of negotiations last month. The foreign ministries of Iran and Oman, which mediated the talks, described them as productive.
Iran was seemingly unwilling to eliminate its uranium enrichment program, a key demand for U.S. negotiators who see it as an existential threat to regional stability. Enriched uranium is a key component of nuclear weapons. The U.S. also wanted to curb Iran’s ballistic missile program and cut its support for Middle East terrorist outfits such as Lebanon-based Hezbollah, Hamas and Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
Widening conflict
Amid the political questions in Tehran, Israel launched another wave of attacks Sunday targeting key Iranian military operations. Israel promised to carry out “nonstop strikes” against the Iranian leadership and security apparatus. Explosions rocked several buildings across Iran’s capital, including those housing Iranian Defense Ministry personnel and national police headquarters.
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The Israeli military declared that it had complete air superiority over Tehran. Israeli jets also reportedly targeted dozens of Iranian missile defense batteries and missile launch sites during their Sunday operations.
Casualties from Sunday’s strikes were not confirmed. Human Rights Activists in Iran, a Washington-based nonprofit organization, said at least 133 civilians had been killed in initial strikes and another 200 injured by Israeli and U.S. strikes Saturday.
Israeli and U.S. strikes also killed several of Iran’s top military and political leaders, including Maj. Gen. Abdolrahim Mousavi, chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces, Defense Minister General Aziz Nasirzadeh and chief security adviser Ali Shamkhani.
Iran, meanwhile, continued its attacks against Israel and Arab Gulf nations. Tehran’s targeting of other Arab nations seems to be uniting the region against it, raising questions about the short- and long-term wisdom of Iranian decision-making.
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Saudi Arabia, for example, has signaled that it may join the conflict should Iran launch more attacks against Riyadh, as it did Saturday.
Iran launched fresh attacks against Israel on Sunday.
Loud explosions were heard across Tel Aviv as Israeli interceptors attempted to defend against a barrage of Iranian missiles. The attacks forced thousands into underground shelters, and at least one person was killed by an Iranian ballistic missile.
Israeli authorities said at least nine people had been killed near an impact site about 18 miles from Jerusalem on Sunday, the worst casualty event for Israel so far in its war with Iran.
Iranian missile and drone attacks on Israel continued into the evening. Reports indicated that air raid sirens sounded in most of the country after the Israeli military identified incoming Iranian attacks.
Ali Larijani, now Iran’s top defense official, said the ayatollah’s death would not deter the Islamic republic and that Israel and U.S. forces in the region would face a “force they have never experienced before.”
Iran has convened an interim leadership council to oversee its retaliation. Council members include President Masoud Pezeshkian, Guardian Council member Ayatollah Alireza Arafi and Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Eje’i, leader of the Iranian judiciary.
Mr. Pezeshkian said the leadership council is considering a successor to Ayatollah Khamenei and is coordinating Iran’s defense.
“The armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran are acting decisively to crush the foundations of the enemies,” the Iranian president said in a video address.
In addition to Israel, Iran again targeted Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates with missiles Sunday. Kuwait said Iran had launched 97 ballistic missiles and 283 drones, killing one and injuring more than 30.
Three people were killed and 58 were injured Sunday in the UAE, the country’s defense ministry said. UAE air defenses intercepted 165 ballistic missiles and most of the 541 drones fired by Iran, though 21 struck civilian targets.
The UAE Foreign Ministry announced that, in response to the strikes, it would withdraw its diplomatic mission from Iran and close its embassy.
Tehran’s massive retaliation against U.S. and partner forces in the Middle East has raised concerns that the war could explode into a prolonged regional conflict with international implications. Other nations are now being drawn into the fighting.
A British Typhoon fighter jet conducting a defensive patrol destroyed an Iranian drone traveling toward Qatar, the British Defense Ministry announced Sunday.
At least 10 people were killed and 70 were injured near the U.S. Consulate in Karachi, Pakistan, in massive pro-Iran demonstrations. Local authorities reportedly fired into crowds attempting to storm the consulate. Similar protests have broken out across Pakistan, according to local reports.
Hundreds of supporters of Ayatollah Khamenei also attempted to storm the compound housing the U.S. Embassy in Iraq on Sunday.
• Matt Delaney, Mike Glenn and Ben Wolfgang contributed to this report.
• Vaughn Cockayne can be reached at vcockayne@washingtontimes.com.