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United States President Donald Trump has pledged to continue the “righteous mission” against Iran, until “all objectives are achieved”, adding there will likely be more US troop deaths in the process.
Speaking in a video posted to his Truth Social account on Sunday, Trump again framed the war against Iran as a response to an existential threat to the US, saying that “an Iranian regime armed with long-range missiles and nuclear weapons would be a dire threat to every American”.
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Trump and his top officials had repeatedly made similar statements in the run-up to Saturday’s attacks, which killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several high-ranking members of the country’s leadership.
However, they have to date presented no evidence to support that Iran was developing a long-range missile capable of hitting the US or was anywhere close to developing a nuclear weapon.
Tehran has long denied seeking such a weapon, with experts assessing that if it did seek nuclear weapons, the development would still be several years off. The US launched its attacks alongside Israel in the middle of ongoing US-Iran talks on its nuclear programme.
Trump also referenced the three US military personnel confirmed killed on Sunday amid Iran’s regional retaliation.
“As one nation, we grieve for the true American patriots who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation, even as we continue the righteous mission for which they gave their lives,” Trump said.
“And sadly, there will likely be more before it ends,” he said. “That’s the way it is – likely be more, but we’ll do everything possible where that won’t be the case.”
He added: “But America will avenge their deaths, and deliver the most punishing blow to the terrorists who have waged war against, basically, civilisation”.
No mention of diplomacy
The speech marked a stark contrast to several interviews Trump had given throughout the day, in which he appeared to float diplomatic off-ramps.
“They want to talk, and I have agreed to talk, so I will be talking to them,” Trump told the Atlantic magazine, referring to what the publication described as Iran’s “new leadership”.
“They should have given what was very practical and easy to do sooner. They waited too long,” he said.
A White House official confirmed to Al Jazeera that Trump was willing to engage with Iran’s new leaders.
Earlier on Sunday, Iran announced a three-member interim leadership council to run the government in the wake of Khamenei’s killing. It includes: President Masoud Pezeshkian; the chief justice of the Supreme Court, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei; and a member of the Guardian Council, Ayatollah Alireza Arafi.
Trump acknowledged that some of the negotiators involved in the talks with the US had since been killed.
Some analysts have argued that Iran’s new leadership will likely be wary of engaging with the Trump administration, given its track record. The US also launched attacks alongside Israel during US-Iran negotiations in June last year.
The new leadership could instead pursue a protracted conflict that could be politically damaging for Trump, some experts have said.
“Most of those people are gone,” Trump told The Atlantic. “Some of the people we were dealing with are gone, because that was a big – that was a big hit.”
Attacks continue
In his speech on Sunday, Trump did not reference any diplomatic overtures, instead calling for regime change in Iran.
He again offered amnesty to Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) members, the Iranian military and police who “lay down” their arms. If they do not, they will face “certain death”, he said.
He also again called on “Iranian patriots who yearn for freedom to seize this moment to be brave, be bold, be heroic, and take back your country”.
He appeared to reference his threats in January to strike Iran in response to the government’s crackdown on protesters.
“I made a promise to you, and I fulfilled that promise,” Trump said. “The rest will be up to you. We’ll be there to help”.
Trump spoke as fighting continued across the region.
The US command that oversees the Middle East (CENTCOM) announced the killing of the three members of the US military earlier on Sunday, but did not provide further details. It said five others were “seriously wounded” in the operation.
The US media has reported that those killed in Iranian strikes were based in Kuwait. Iran has also launched a barrage of attacks against Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain, and Oman.
Meanwhile, at least 201 people have been killed in Iran, with 747 wounded, while at least nine have been killed and 121 wounded in Israel.
At least one person has been killed in Kuwait, three have been killed in the UAE, and two have been killed in Iraq since the escalation began.
Iran’s IRGC said earlier on Sunday that it had targeted the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier with four ballistic missiles, but a US official told Al Jazeera that no damage was caused.
Speaking in a separate Fox News interview on Sunday, Trump said that 48 “leaders” had been killed in Iran, although a full list of those killed has not been released. In a post on Truth Social, the US president said the US had “destroyed and sunk 9 Iranian Naval Ships, some of them relatively large and important”.
“In a different attack, we largely destroyed their Naval Headquarters,” he said.
In a post on X, CENTCOM said the IRGC “no longer has a headquarters”.
Still, Araghchi told ABC News, “We see no limit for ourselves to defend our people, to protect our people.”
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