WASHINGTON/TEHERAN/RIYADH/KUWAIT CITY/JERUSALEM – US President Donald Trump said on Monday that the US military campaign against Iran has the “capability to go far longer” than the four to five weeks he projected during media interviews one day earlier.
“We have capability to go far longer than that. We’ll do it,” Trump said at an event in the White House, referring to his earlier remarks that the attacks may last four to five weeks.
“I don’t get bored. There’s nothing boring about this,” Trump said amid the war across the Middle East region.
Trump on Monday defended the attacks on Iran as “very necessary and important”, slamming Democrats for “complaining bitterly”.
“The Radical Left Democrats, a Party that has completely lost its way, are complaining bitterly about the very necessary and important attack, by the United States and Israel, on Iran,” Trump said in a post on his social media platform Truth Social.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted Saturday and Sunday found that some 43 percent of US citizens disapproved of the strikes and just 27 percent approved.
Also on Monday, Trump said that he is not ruling out sending US ground troops into Iran if necessary.
“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,” Trump told New York Post in an interview.
“I say ‘probably don’t need them,’ (or) ‘if they were necessary,'” he said.
At least 555 people have been killed in US and Israeli strikes against Iran since Saturday morning, the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) said on Monday.
In a statement published on its official website, the IRCS noted that 131 Iranian counties were targeted in the strikes.
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Iran ‘prepared for long war’
Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Larijani said on Monday the country is prepared for a long war.
“Iran, unlike the United States, has prepared itself for a long war,” Larijani said in a post on social media platform X.
Larijani also stressed on Monday that the country will not negotiate with the United States.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said on Monday its missile strikes targeted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office and the place of stay of Commander of the Israeli Air Force Tomer Bar.
In a statement published on its official news outlet Sepah News, the IRGC said the “targeted and surprise” attacks were carried out using homegrown Kheibar ballistic missiles.
Also on Monday, IRGC said it launched 26 drones and five ballistic missiles at US military targets in Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, and the Strait of Hormuz.
US embassy
Saudi Arabia’s defense ministry said on Tuesday that the US embassy in Riyadh was hit by two drones.
The drone attack resulted in “limited” fire and material damage, the ministry said.
The US Department of State on Monday urged Americans to depart immediately from the Middle East “due to serious safety risks.”
Also on Monday, the US Central Command announced the death of two additional US service members in the attacks against Iran, bringing the total number to six.
It also announced on Monday that three US F-15 Eagle Strike fighter jets crashed over Kuwait after being hit by “friendly fire”, while Iran’s armed forces said it shot down one.
Intelligence headquarters in Teheran
The Israeli military said on Monday night it completed a wave of strikes in the heart of Tehran targeting the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and the Basij headquarters, on the third day of the US-Israel joint operation against the Islamic republic.
The Israeli military said early Tuesday that it has bombed Iran’s communications center with dozens of munitions and “destroyed” it.