President Donald Trump has claimed the Iran conflict could soon be over and insisted the US is “far ahead” of its “initial timeline”.
Trump said the US has “already won” the Iran war, but added it hasn’t “won enough”.
“We’re knocking them out. We know where they all are. We’re knocking them out very quickly. We’re ahead of our initial timeline by a lot,” he said, giving an update from Florida.
Speaking to House Republicans earlier on Monday, he also said Iran was going to attack all of the Middle East and Israel, claiming: “Israel would have been wiped out.”
It comes after Israel launched new wide-scale strikes against Iran as fighting intensified on Monday.
Nato shot down an Iranian ballistic missile in the alliance’s airspace, Turkey’s defence ministry confirmed. Air defences in the eastern Mediterranean were activated after a missile fired from Iran entered Turkey’s airspace.
The ministry said it would take all necessary steps to protect itself without hesitation. Iran denied firing a missile towards Turkey last week.
Iran has elected Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei as its new leader, more than a week after his father was killed in an airstrike.
Pakistani warships escorting merchant vessels passing through Middle East
Pakistani warships have started escorting the country’s merchant vessels through the Middle East as regional conflict disrupts oil tanker traffic.
With the nation heavily dependent on energy imports from the Gulf, the government has introduced broad fuel-saving measures, including closing schools, while the war continues.
On Monday, the country’s navy said that the operation was launched to ensure the country’s energy supplies were not interrupted.
“Pakistan Navy has launched Operation Muhafiz-ul-Bahr to counter multidimensional threats to national shipping and maritime trade. The initiative has been undertaken to ensure the uninterrupted flow of national energy supplies and the security of Sea Lines of Communication,” a spokesperson for Pakistan Navy said in a Facebook post.
Trump claims war would go on at least for another week
Donald Trump said on Monday that the war would go on at least for another week, soon after he suggested that the war would end “very soon”.
“We’ve already won in many ways, but we haven’t won enough,” he told a gathering of Republican lawmakers in Florida.
“We go forward more determined than ever to achieve ultimate victory that will end this long-running danger once and for all.”
Iran, on the other hand, has refuted Trump’s claim that their missiles are declining and instead claimed that its missiles were getting more powerful.
Body of seventh US service member killed in war arrives at Dover air base
US vice president JD Vance was present as the body of the seventh US service member killed in the war with Iran arrived at Dover Air Force Base on Monday evening.
Sgt Benjamin N Pennington sustained critical injuries during an attack on Saudi Arabia’s Prince Sultan Air Base and later succumbed to those wounds, officials reported.
Earlier, six American troops were killed in an Iranian drone strike on a base in Kuwait.
According to an Iranian official, US and Israeli operations in Iran have resulted in roughly 1,300 fatalities, while Iranian attacks throughout the Middle East have claimed more than 30 lives.
Trump again suggests Iran struck elementary school
Donald Trump has again suggested, without evidence, that Iran bombed an elementary school in Minab on 28 February, killing 175 people, including many children.
Video evidence verified by The New York Times shows a Tomahawk missile struck a naval base near the school.
Tomahawks are developed by the United States, and only a few allies possess them; Iran does not have Tomahawks but has its own distinct domestically produced cruise missiles.
Earlier, US Senator John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican, admitted America “made a mistake” when a girls’ school in Iran was bombed.
US military investigators reportedly believe American forces were likely responsible for the strike in Minab late last month.
The critical infrastructure that’s so vital to Middle East nations – and vulnerable to Iranian attack
Attacks on desalination plants mark a dangerous escalation in the Middle East conflict.
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Senator admits US ‘made a mistake’ with Iranian girls’ school bombing
US Senator John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican, has admitted America “made a mistake” when a girls’ school in Iran was bombed.
“It was terrible. We made a mistake,” he told NBC News’ Sahil Kapur. “Other countries do that sort of thing intentionally, like Russia. We would never do that intentionally. I think the department is investigating it now, and I’m sorry. I’m just so sorry it happened. It was a mistake”.
US military investigators reportedly believe American forces were likely responsible for the strike in Minab late last month, which officials say killed dozens of people, including many students.
US President Donald Trump has claimed Iran was behind the attack.
Oil prices fall after Trump signals war will end ‘very soon’
Global oil prices dropped sharply in early Tuesday trading in Asia, with Brent down about 8.5 per cent to $92.50 a barrel and US oil down around 9 per cent to $88.60.Prices remain roughly 30 per cent higher than before the war began.
The fall followed Donald Trump’s comments that the war will end “very soon”.
The dip boosted Asian markets, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 up 2.8 per cent and South Korea’s Kospi rising over 5 per cent.
Iran claims missiles growing more powerful and refutes declining numbers
An Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps spokesman, Ali Mohammad Naeini, accused US president Donald Trump of falsely claiming that Iranian missile launches were declining.
According to the semi-official Tasnim news agency, he claimed that Iran’s missiles were growing more powerful and larger than in the early days of the war.
A New York Times tally shows that Iran has launched over 2,000 drones and 500 ballistic missiles at American allies in the Middle East since the war began, with strikes continuing into early Tuesday.
This count does not include launches at Israel, where authorities have not shared such details.
Five members of Iranian women’s football team in Australia granted humanitarian visas
Five members of the Iranian women’s football team were granted humanitarian visas in Australia after their Asian Cup exit.
US president Donald Trump publicly urged Australia to “give asylum” to the women’s football team. “The US will take them if you won’t,” he added.
He later said he spoke with Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese, and wrote on his social media that “five have already been taken care of, and the rest are on their way”.
“In any event, the Prime Minister is doing a very good job having to do with this rather delicate situation. God bless Australia!” Trump said.
Australia’s immigration minister Tony Burke earlier said that the women “were moved to a safe location” by the police.
Australia’s humanitarian visa program provides permanent protection to refugees and individuals in urgent need, allowing them to live, work, and study freely in the country.
Source: independent.co.uk