Donald Trump warned Tehran that the biggest strikes are yet to come as the US and Israel traded blows with Iran for a third day.
The US president said he expected the fighting to go on for around four weeks as Hezbollah joined on the side of Iran, blowing open the crisis into a regional conflict.
“We haven’t even started hitting them hard,” he bragged in comments to CNN on Monday. “The big wave hasn’t even happened. The big one is coming soon.”
In his first public comments since attacking Iran on Saturday, the president told reporters at the White House that the US was prepared to fight on for “far longer” than planned if necessary to decisively stop the regime from building missiles and getting a nuclear weapon. He said earlier it was the “last, best chance” to strike Tehran.
The president also refused to rule out putting boots on the ground as the Pentagon insisted the US was not veering into another “endless war” in the desert.
Trump told the New York Post: “I don’t have the yips with respect to boots on the ground — like every president says, ‘There will be no boots on the ground.’ I don’t say it ... I say ‘probably don’t need them,’ [or] ‘if they were necessary.'”
Kuwait mistakenly shot down US fighter jets
The US and Israeli air war against Iran has widened conflict across the Gulf region. Kuwait mistakenly shot down three American F-15E fighter jets during an Iranian attack, U.S. Central Command said.
All six crew members ejected and were safely recovered. Video filmed at a location verified by Reuters showed one of the planes spiralling out of the sky, an engine on fire.
Around 10 per cent of global container ships caught in Gulf of Hormuz backup, CEO says
Container ships account for roughly 100 of the 750 ships backed up around the Strait of Hormuz following US and Israeli attacks on Iran, Jeremy Nixon, CEO of container carrier Ocean Network Express (ONE), said on Monday.
"About 10 per cent of the container ship global fleet is caught up in this," Mr Nixon said at a container shipping industry conference in Long Beach, California.
Maritime insurers stopped voyages through the strait between Iran and Oman, which carries around one-fifth of oil consumed globally as well as large quantities of gas, as Iran retaliated against U.S. and Israeli strikes.
Iran's foreign minister calls for pressure on US for strikes
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi has called for regional countries to pressure the US for striking Iran.
In statements to Iran's State TV, Araqchi said on Monday that Tehran was not in war with regional countries.
Strait of Hormuz closed and Iran to set on fire any ship trying to pass, commander says
Iran's Revolutionary Guards commander said on Monday that the Strait of Hormuz has been closed and Iran is to set any ship trying to pass on fire, Iranian media reported.
The decision follows the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei by an Israeli strike. This move would threaten to choke a fifth of global oil flows and send crude prices sharply higher.
Freedom for Iranians will come 'sooner than later', Israel's envoy to the UN says
Israel’s envoy to the UN says that freedom for Iranians will come “sooner than later”.
Danny Danon says in an address that Israel will do whatever is necessary to ensure Iran does not have nuclear capabilities.
He says the operation will last “as long as it takes”, and says Israel hopes there will ultimately be a new leadership in Iran.
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