As Iran retaliates, largest US military base in Middle East hit by ballistic missile, Qatar says
No one was injured, according to the Qatari Ministry of Defense.
President Donald Trump announced "major combat operations" against Iran on Saturday, with daytime strikes in the joint U.S.-Israel attack targeting military and government sites, officials said.
On Sunday, Iranian state television confirmed that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was among those killed by airstrikes in Tehran on Saturday.
Iran is responding to the U.S.-Israeli operation with missile and drone attacks targeting Israel, regional U.S. bases and Gulf nations. American diplomatic facilities have also been attacked.
In Lebanon, Israel is intensifying its long-running strike campaign against the Iranian-aligned Hezbollah militia.
Watch special coverage on Nightline, "War with Iran," each night on ABC and streaming on Disney+ and Hulu.
Key Headlines
- Death toll in Lebanon rises to at least 50 killed, over 300 injured: Health officials
- US embassy in Jordan issues shelter-in-place order
- Canadian PM says US-Israeli actions may be 'inconsistent with international law'
- Qatar says Al Udeid Air Base hit by ballistic missile
- Rubio says 'intensity' of attacks on Iran to ramp up
'Clear, devastating, decisive mission'
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said “the mission of Operation Epic Fury is laser-focused: destroy Iranian offensive missiles, destroy Iranian missile production, destroy their Navy and other security infrastructure, and they will never have nuclear weapons.”
Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said there were more than 1,000 targets in the first 24 hours.
“With every passing day, our capabilities get stronger and Iran’s get weaker,” Hegseth said. “We set the terms of this war from start to finish. Our ambitions are not utopian -- they are realistic, scoped to our interests and the defense of our people and our allies.”
"This is not Iraq, this is not endless," Hegseth said. "... [Trump] called the last 20 years of nation-building wars dumb, and he's right. This is the opposite. This operation is a clear, devastating, decisive mission: destroy the missile threat, destroy the Navy, no nukes."
Iran's 'war on Americans has become our retribution,' Hegseth says
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called the ongoing operation “our retribution” for Iran’s role in sponsoring terrorism, including roadside bombs used against troops during the Iraq War.
Iran’s “war on Americans has become our retribution against their Ayatollah and his death cult,” he said. “It took the 47th president, a fighter who always puts America first, to finally draw the line after 47 years of Iranian belligerence.”
Hegseth said, “This is not a so-called ‘regime change’ war, but the regime sure did change, and the world is better off for it.”
'We didn’t start this war but … we are finishing it,' Hegseth says
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said at a news conference Monday, "We didn’t start this war, but under President Trump, we are finishing it."
Hegseth said Iran was building "powerful missiles and drones to create a conventional shield for their nuclear blackmail ambitions," with "our bases, our people, our allies all in their crosshairs."
He said Iran "tried to lie their way to a nuclear bomb."
He said the U.S. "bent over backwards for diplomacy" but "Tehran was not negotiating," and stalled to rebuild their stockpiles.
No indication nuclear installations hit, IAEA says
The International Atomic Energy Agency said so far there’s "no indication that any of the nuclear installations ... have been damaged or hit" in Iran.