Trump says US may be 'forced' to 'complete the job'
US President Donald Trump asserted that the United States holds the advantage following additional strikes on multiple targets in Iran, conducted a day after retaliatory action for a drone attack on a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz.
“There may come a point when we are no longer able to be reasonable, and will be forced to militarily complete the job that we very successfully started,”Trump posted on Truth Social following Saturday’s strikes.
“If that happens,” he wrote, “the Islamic Republic of will no longer exist.”
Approximately an hour after Trump’s statement, the Kuwaiti army reported that its air defenses were responding to “hostile” missile and drone attacks, with sirens sounding in the country, according to the interior ministry.
Meanwhile, US Senator JD Vance reiterated the administration’s confident stance on the conflict with Iran hours before the latest exchange of strikes.
“If we make the final deal, then great,”Vance told HBO’s Bill Maher.
“If we don’t make the final deal, their nuclear program is still destroyed. They’re still much weaker as a country, so my attitude is America wins either way.”
On Saturday, Trump also announced his intention to nominate Lance Schroyer as the next director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), succeeding David Venturella, who had been serving as acting director.
In a Truth Social post, the president highlighted Schroyer’s credentials:
“Lance Schroyer has over 29 YEARS of Law Enforcement experience in Oklahoma – A State where I WON all 77 Counties in 2016, 2020, and 2024! Lance is a former Oklahoma State Trooper, and United States Marine.”
Markwayne Mullin, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, stated on X that Schroyer
“will play a vital role in helping deliver on the President’s mandate from the American people to target, arrest, and deport illegal aliens.”
Iran’s foreign minister calls for regional security framework after strikes
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has called for the establishment of a security framework involving Gulf nations following Iranian strikes on US bases in Kuwait and Bahrain, which were in retaliation to US attacks.
“We should reach a new framework that includes all countries in the region and without the presence or interference of any country from outside the region,”Araghchi stated during a news conference in Baghdad, Iraq’s capital, where he was visiting.
He emphasized that restoring maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz to pre-conflict levels is the responsibility of Tehran and cautioned that any challenge to Iranian oversight in the strait will
“increase tensions.”
Araghchi also addressed the situation in Lebanon, where the Israeli military reported killing Hezbollah militants in a strike in the Nabatieh area of southern Lebanon.
He reiterated Iran’s position that the memorandum of understanding signed with the US requires Israel to withdraw from Lebanon and cease its military operations there.
Iran’s foreign minister warns any challenge to Iranian oversight of Hormuz will ‘increase tensions’
During his visit to Baghdad, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with his Iraqi counterpart to discuss recent attacks and the critical issue of the Strait of Hormuz, according to .
Gulf states have publicly affirmed that the Strait of Hormuz must remain toll-free. Araghchi’s Iraqi counterpart emphasized the importance of reopening the passage during their joint meetings and urged Iran to lift the naval blockade.
Araghchi reiterated that returning maritime traffic to pre-war levels in Hormuz is solely the responsibility of Tehran and warned that any challenge to control over the strait will
“increase tensions.”
He also commented on Lebanon, referencing the Israeli military’s recent strike that resulted in the deaths of Hezbollah militants in the Nabatieh area.
Opening summary
Welcome to our live coverage of the evolving crisis in the Middle East.
Earlier this morning, Iran announced it launched a combined missile and drone operation targeting eight US military sites in Kuwait and Bahrain. This followed US strikes on multiple Iranian targets, which were conducted a day after the US retaliated for a drone attack on a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz.
According to US Central Command (Centcom), these strikes were
“in direct response to continued Iranian aggression against commercial shipping”and targeted Iran’s
“military surveillance infrastructure, communication systems, air defense sites, drone storage facilities, and minelayer capabilities.”
Both Iran and the US have accused each other of violating a truce and undermining ongoing negotiations aimed at ending the conflict in the Middle East.
Bahrain and Kuwait condemned the Iranian attacks. The Kuwaiti military reported intercepting incoming Iranian drones and missiles early Sunday morning, shortly after the US strikes. Kuwait, which hosts a significant US army base, detected and intercepted two ballistic missiles, with no reports of injuries or damage.
Bahrain reported that Iranian strikes damaged a residential building near the international airport but caused no fatalities. The ministry released photographs showing an eight-story building with the top floor destroyed, rubble scattered, and windows blown out.
Iran declared on Sunday its determination to defend its sovereignty following the latest US strikes.
“Iran strongly condemns the airstrikes by the terrorist US army on several monitoring and surveillance facilities on the southern coast of the country in the early hours of Sunday,”the Iranian foreign ministry said in a statement, adding that it
“stresses its determination to defend Iran’s national sovereignty”against US attacks.
US President Donald Trump accused Iran of breaching the ceasefire agreement in a social media post and warned that the US might be
“forced to militarily complete the job.”
“If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist!”
Additional developments include Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar reportedly holding telephone talks with his Bahraini counterpart, Abdulatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, to discuss the regional crisis after Bahrain intercepted several missiles and drones from Iran.
In Iraq, several political officials were arrested early Sunday on corruption charges, according to the state-run Iraqi news agency. The arrests followed statements by former Deputy Minister of Oil Adnan al-Jumaili, who was detained last month, and included members of parliament whose immunity had been lifted.
In the occupied West Bank, Israeli soldiers shot and wounded a Palestinian in the Qalandiya refugee camp north of East Jerusalem. Israeli forces also detained two individuals and conducted home raids, according to the Wafa news agency.
