Time - President Donald Trump vowed that the U.S. will hit Iran “twenty times harder” than it already has if the country does anything to block the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz.
“We will take out easily destroyable targets that will make it virtually impossible for Iran to ever be built back as a nation again,” Trump threatened Monday night. “Death, fire, and fury will reign upon them. But I hope, and pray, that it does not happen.”
NPR - Rather than discuss unconditional surrender or regime change, Trump compared the situation in Iran to Venezuela, where the regime stays in place, but the leader changes, NPR's Mara Liasson tells Up First. But Liasson says Iran is very different from Venezuela, which is a small, weak country in the U.S.' backyard. She adds that the president didn't give answers when pressed about whether not pushing for regime change meant he was betraying his promise to give Iranians their freedom. Iran’s biggest objective is currently survival, Liasson says. They want to make it uncomfortable for the U.S and Israel to continue the war. Iran wants the price of staying in the region to be high, and Liasson says this means they want to keep gas prices high. With U.S. oil prices nearing $4 per gallon, continuing the war could become increasingly more challenging for Trump.
Iranian health officials report that the U.S. and Israeli campaign has killed 1,200, while Lebanese authorities count 500 deaths. In Lebanon, President Joseph Aoun is pushing for direct negotiations with Israel and an end to the bombings, NPR’s Hadeel Al-Shalchi says. Aoun is seeking international support to equip the Lebanese Armed Forces in their efforts to disarm Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group. Last week, Hezbollah dragged Lebanon into this war after it launched rockets into Israel. An Israeli official, speaking anonymously, told NPR that Israel views the Lebanese government's approach to Hezbollah positively, but the war will continue.
NBC News - President Donald Trump categorized the war in Iran as “a short-term excursion” yesterday, suggesting the 10-day conflict that has roiled the Middle East could be nearing its end. At the same time, he warned of intensifying strikes if Iran restricts a key oil route.
Trump did not put a timeline on the end of the war when pressed for details, and he warned that the U.S. would retaliate with immense force if the Iranians attacked ships in the crucial Strait of Hormuz. On social media, the president vowed “death, fire and fury will reign upon them.”
Trump was asked about a new video that appears to show a U.S. Tomahawk missile hitting an area where a strike killed more than 170 people at a girls’ school in Iran. He said he hadn’t seen the video and suggested, without offering any evidence, that the Tomahawk could have been fired by Iran, which is not known to have such missiles. The Defense Department is still investigating the strike, he said.
“Whatever the report shows, I’m willing to live with that report,” he said.
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