President Trump, Israeli Leaders Say Final Blow to Iran Will Come Within Weeks

After Israeli and American officials celebrated “cutting off the head of the snake” following the elimination of 48 of Iran’s top political and military echelon, President Trump says America’s military and its allies are preparing to finish the job in the next four weeks — or less.In a round robin of interviews following the attacks that eliminated Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, a former president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, and the nation’s defense minister, among others, Mr. Trump said Sunday Operation Epic Fury is running “ahead of schedule.” He told NBC News that the offensive, initiated after talks with Iranian officials yielded no concessions on Iran’s nuclear program, has many planned outcomes. “Number one is decapitating them, getting rid of their whole group of killers and thugs. And there are many, many outcomes. We could do the short version or the longer version,” he said.Mr. Trump also urged remaining Iranian military members to surrender, hand over their weapons, or face “certain death.”“We knocked out nine ships and their naval building, all in a matter of literally minutes,” the president said in remarks later in the day. “The entire military command is gone as well, and many of them want to surrender into saving their lives. They want immunity, calling by the thousands.”“Combat operations will continue until objectives are achieved,” the president added, noting that he would not “allow a nation that raises terrorist armies” to “extort the world to their evil will. “As Mr. Trump prepares for the next phase, the six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council — Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, who all objected to America using their airspace to conduct military actions against Iran — said they would not tolerate missile and drone attacks aimed at them in response to the Israeli and American offensive.A spokesman for Kuwait’s foreign ministry late Sunday said that it would retaliate for ongoing aggression after being the target of 97 Iranian ballistic missiles and 283 drones coming from Iran.“The Kingdom will take all necessary measures to safeguard its security and protect its territories,” added Saudi Arabia’s foreign affairs ministry in a statement that emphasized the Kingdom’s “deep resentment, condemnation, and denunciation of the Iranian attacks” in the Gulf.At the same time, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany announced they would join the “collective self-defense” of allies in the region. Saying that Iran had threatened 200,000 British nationals living in and visiting the Middle East, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the death of the supreme leader had not stopped Iran from being “even more reckless and more dangerous to civilians.”“Our decision that the UK would not be involved in strikes on Iran was deliberate,” he said, announcing that he was reversing course and allowing America to use Diego Garcia military base to launch airstrikes to take out Iran’s ballistic missile storage depots. “The United States has requested the use of British bases for that specific and limited purpose. We have taken the decision to accept this request,” he said.With three American service members killed, five injured, and scores of Israeli civilians injured or dead from retaliatory attacks targeting Israeli cities and military facilities, Israel’s Air Force says it is now batting down unmanned aerial vehicles and striking ballistic missile launchers, military and political headquarters, air defense systems, and command centers in the largest air offensive in Israel’s history. “Operation Roaring Lion continues,” said the IDF’s spokesman, Brigadier General Effie Defrin. “Iran showed yet again that they deliberately target civilians. Iran fired hundreds of missiles, not just toward Israel, but the entire Middle East. We are acting now for a safer region.”Among the remaining leadership in Iran are high-profile figures, including the foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi; the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Ali Larijani; Chief Justice Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, and President Mahmoud Pezeshkian. Multiple reports falsely claimed that the newly appointed ayatollah, Alireza Arafi, had been killed in an airstrike. Mullah Arafi, a trusted ally of Khamenei, is part of a three‑member Leadership Council that includes Mr. Ejei and Mr. Pezeshkian. The group temporarily assumed the Supreme Leader’s role through a succession plan created ahead of the war. Remaining defiant in the face of the attacks, Mr. Araghchi said Mr. Trump is saying one thing and doing another, and claimed negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program had been proceeding in Geneva. He added that he had expected a deal to be reached at the next meeting, which had been scheduled for this week before the attacks. “Those who wanted to spoil diplomacy succeeded in their mission. But it was Mr. Trump, yet again, who ultimately ordered bombing of the negotiating table,” Mr. Araghchi said on X, adding that Iran is prepared to take on the fight. “We’ve had two decades to study defeats of the U.S. military to our immediate east and west. We’ve incorporated lessons accordingly. Bombings in our capital have no impact on our ability to conduct war. Decentralized Mosaic Defense enables us to decide when — and how — war will end,” he said.While the Washington Post and New York Times offered rousing obituaries for Khamenei, with the Post referring to him as an “avuncular figure” with a “bushy white beard and easy smile” who liked to read poetry and classic Western novels, several Democrats have criticized the president for initiating the attacks. Democratic presidential contenders, congressional, and other elected leaders, say Mr. Trump did not seek congressional approval for a war aimed at regime change and largely unpopular with the American public.

President Trump, Israeli Leaders Say Final Blow to Iran Will Come Within Weeks

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