US President Donald Trump has raised the possibility of regime change in Iran following US military strikes against key Iranian military sites over the weekend.
“It’s not politically correct to use the term, ‘Regime Change,’ but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!!” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.
The comments came after Vice-President JD Vance insisted the US was “not at war with Iran, we’re at war with Iran’s nuclear programme”. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US was “not looking for war in Iran”.
Trump doubled down on his claim that Iran’s nuclear sites had been “obliterated” in the US strikes, after other US officials said the damage could not be confirmed. “Monumental Damage was done to all Nuclear sites in Iran, as shown by satellite images. Obliteration is an accurate term!” he wrote on Truth Social.
A social media account associated with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Israel has made a “grave mistake” and “must be punished”, in what would be his first comments since the US joined Israel’s conflict with Iran.
“The Zionist enemy has made a grave mistake, committed a great crime; it must be punished and is being punished; it is being punished right now,” the X post read.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Moscow where he is discussing “common threats” with President Vladimir Putin. Speaking in Istanbul earlier, Araghchi said his country would consider all possible responses, with no return to diplomacy until it had retaliated.
Israel and Iran exchanged another round of missiles overnight. Explosions were heard in Karaj, west of Tehran, whilst Nour news reported airstrikes had hit Parchin, a military complex southeast of Tehran.
Israel later said it had attacked Kermanshah, western Iran. In Israel, sirens sounded after 3am when the military said Iran had launched a missile attack, but no direct impacts or injuries were reported.
Iran’s parliament has reportedly approved closing the key Strait of Hormuz shipping lane. Reuters reported Iran’s supreme national security council will make the final decision on the move, which could hamstring global trade by shutting the narrow passage between Iran and Oman.
Nine Palestinian civilians were killed late on Sunday by an Israeli artillery strike targeting people waiting for food aid in the Al-Waha area, northwest of Gaza City, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported. The report could not be independently verified as Israel does not allow foreign journalists into the occupied territory.
Jonathan Whittall, head of the UN’s humanitarian agency in Gaza and the West Bank, said there is a “chilling pattern of Israeli forces opening fire on crowds gathering to get food“.
Medical sources in Gaza say about 450 people have been killed and thousands injured in the past 12 days in attacks by Israeli forces on people trying to collect aid from sites operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a secretive Israeli- and US-backed private organisation.
Australia backed US strikes on Iran, whilst Japan, heavily reliant on Middle Eastern oil, called for de-escalation. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said “we support action” to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Japan was monitoring the situation with “grave concern”.
(information from The Guardian)
