US President Donald Trump says the strikes that killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamanei and his family brought forward a new wave of leaders that have now also been eliminated.
During a meeting at the White house with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Tuesday, Mr Trump said he was concerned that raids by the US and Israel that continue to eliminate Iranian leadership threats may eventually leave them with no options for an aligned governing group.
“Most of the people we had in mind are dead,” Mr Trump told the gathered media.
“Now we have another group, they may be dead also, based on reports. So you have a third wave coming. Pretty soon, we’re not going to know anybody.”
Mr Trump said he has concerns that the groups attempting to take over leadership of the nation would be “as bad” as the previous rulers and that they had to strike due to heightened intelligence Iran were about to launch an assault.
“I guess the worst case would be we do this and somebody takes over who’s as bad as the previous person. Right, that could happen? We don’t want that to happen. It would probably be the worst, you go through this and in five years you realise you put somebody in who’s no better.”
“We were having negotiations with these lunatics, and it was my opinion that they were going to attack.
“If anything, I might have forced Israel’s hand,” Mr Trump added when asked if Israel were pressing the US to strike.
Overnight, the battle for southern Lebanon increased between the Israeli military and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah with Israel continuing to send missiles into Iran and Beirut.
Hezbollah responded with a squadron of attack drones sent into Israel, prompting suspicions they may respond with a ground assault similar to the one during the war with Hezbollah in 2024.
The death toll in the conflict, which stretches across multiple borders, has now surpassed 800 and caused a global market sell-off, with stocks and bonds slipping and oil and gas prices rising as images of burning oil refineries in the region flood media reports.
The all-important Strait of Hormuz is closed threatening oil supply to the rest of the world with Iran threatening to “burn” any ships that attempt to push through.
because of attacks on production facilities and tankers, and Iran’s threats to close the
Here are some of the latest developments from the conflict:
US State Department upgrades warning
The State Department has warned US citizens to leave 14 Middle East countries immediately.
These include Iran, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Syria, Yemen and the Palestinian territories.
The State Department is also evacuating non essential staff members and their families out of Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
Southern Lebanon
Israel Katz, the Israeli defense minister, said the country’s forces had been ordered to advance and take control of additional strategic locations in Lebanon to prevent Hezbollah attacks on Israeli border communities.
The death toll
The Red Crescent Society in Iran says the death toll had risen to 787 since the start of the US-Israeli attacks on Saturday.
The Pentagon said that six US service members had been killed in the conflict and the Lebanese health ministry said that at least 31 people had been killed in fighting.
In Israel, at least 10 people have been killed, and in the Gulf, there have been six deaths since Saturday, according to the New York Times.
https://thewest.com.au/news/middle-east/iran-us-israel-war-donald-trump-says-irans-new-leaders-have-been-killed-in-fresh-strikes-c-21825479
