LIVE: First American casualties: Pentagon announces three military personnel killed in operation against Iran

The president released a six-minute message updating Americans on the operation against Iran. In the video, he said the strikes would continue until the objectives of securing peace in the Middle East are met.

He also addressed the three U.S. casualties confirmed by the Pentagon: “As one nation, we mourn the true American patriots who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation, even as we continue the just mission for which they gave their lives,” Trump said.

The Republican president added that “unfortunately, there are likely to be more” American casualties during the ongoing attacks.

Iran appointed Ayatollah Alireza Arafi as a member of its interim leadership council, which will be at the helm of the country following the assassination of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

"The Expediency Discernment Council has elected Ayatollah Alireza Arafi as a member of the interim leadership council," expediency council spokesman Mohsen Dehnavi said in a release on X.

The interim council, which will also include the president and the head of the judiciary, will run the country until the Assembly of Experts "elects a permanent leader as soon as possible."

Three U.S. military members were killed and five others were seriously wounded as part of the operation against Iran, the U.S. military's Middle East Command (CENTCOM) announced Sunday. These are the first known American casualties since the United States and Israel launched massive bombing raids against Iran on Saturday.

CENTCOM did not disclose any details about the location or the identity of the soldiers in its statement on X. "The situation is fluid, so out of respect for the families, we will withhold additional information, including the identities of our fallen warriors, until 24 hours after next of kin have been notified," the U.S. command added.

Several other soldiers suffered "minor" injuries from shrapnel and concussions, but are being "returned to duty," CENTCOM said.

President Donald Trump had already warned on Saturday that deaths in the U.S. military were to be expected.

China and Russia expressed regret over what they described as the "assassination" of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei during the Israeli and U.S. attacks on Saturday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin conveyed to Iran his "most sincere condolences" over the "assassination" of Khamenei, "in a cynical violation of all norms of human morality and international law."

The late Iranian leader "will be remembered as an outstanding statesman who made a huge personal contribution to the development of friendly Russian-Iranian relations," Putin said in a letter to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

The Chinese government "strongly condemned" Khamenei's death. The operation that killed Khamenei was "a grave violation of Iran's sovereignty and security, an outrage against the purposes and principles of the U.N. Charter and the basic norms of international relations," the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a note.

At least nine people have lost their lives in a direct hit by an Iranian missile on a building in Beit Shemesh.

This was confirmed by the Magen David Adom emergency service, which warned that the death toll could rise: "In the Beit Shemesh area, MDA EMTs and paramedics have pronounced the deaths of nine, as well as 28 people injured, with police saying it was a direct hit on a building."

The British Defense Minister said on Sunday that, among the "indiscriminate Iranian retaliatory attacks" launched after the U.S. and Israeli bombings, "two ballistic missiles were fired in the direction of Cyprus."

"There were two ballistic missiles launched towards Cyprus," John Healey told the BBC, adding that British fighter jets were involved in "defensive" actions in the region, operating from the U.K. air base on the island and from a base in Qatar.

"We are now fairly certain that they were not targeting Cyprus, but even so, it shows that our bases and our personnel, both military and civilian, are currently at risk," he added, without giving further details about the missiles or whether they had been intercepted.

Healey accused Tehran of carrying out "increasingly indiscriminate, widespread, and out-of-control" attacks and cited the missile incident as an example of the "really serious and deteriorating situation" in the Middle East and the "growing risks of an increase in indiscriminate Iranian retaliatory attacks," considering them "a very real threat."

Supreme leader Khamenei was not the only sensitive casualty for the defense establishment of the Iranian regime, according to information provided by the IDF.

As JNS reports, Israeli army spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin told reporters Saturday night that the army had carried out two initial strikes: one against a "Defense Council compound in Tehran" and a second strike against a "ministry that serves as the terrorist regime's central intelligence office and boasts its most advanced intelligence capabilities."

"The opening strikes were said to have killed Ali Shamkhani, secretary of the Iranian Security Council and a personal adviser to slain Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei; Mohammad Pakpour, commander of the IRGC since the June 2025 war and one of the leaders of the “Destruction of Israel” plan; Saleh Asadi, head of the Intelligence Directorate of the unified combatant command headquarters of the Iranian Armed Forces; and Mohammad Shirazi, Khamenei’s military secretary.

Among those slain in the first attacks were also Iranian Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh; Hossein Jabal Amelian, the head of Iran’s Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research, which advanced Iran’s “projects regarding nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons,” as well as his predecessor, Reza Mozaffari-Nia, who worked on nuclear weapons."

In addition, early Sunday morning the Fars news agency indicated that "General Gholamreza Rezaian, intelligence chief of the national police, died as a result of yesterday's enemy attacks."

Oman, a key mediator in negotiations between Washington and Tehran, and which had been on the sidelines of Iranian retaliation on Saturday, suffered the attack of two drones on the commercial port of Duqm while an oil tanker was hit off its coast.

"A security source reported that the commercial port of Duqm was attacked by two drones," the Oman News Agency said in a post on social media.

"One of the drones hit a mobile workers' accommodation, injuring a foreign employee, while the wreckage of the other fell near some fuel tanks, causing no casualties or material damage," it added.

Shortly after, Oman reported that an oil tanker had been attacked off its coast. Its crew was evacuated and four crew members were injured, the news agency reported.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Sunday that avenging the assassination of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the U.S. and Israeli attacks was the Islamic Republic's right and obligation.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran considers it its legitimate duty and right to avenge the perpetrators and masterminds of this historic crime," Pezeshkian said in a statement broadcast on state television.

Iran and Israel resumed attacks early Sunday morning. Explosions have been heard in Jerusalem and Tehran, and Iranian state television announced that bombings have been launched against Qatar, Bahrain, and Dubai. In Iraq, AFP journalists report seeing smoke after hearing explosions at the airport near U.S. troops.
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In a statement, the Israeli army confirmed the attacks: "The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) is attacking targets belonging to the Iranian terrorist regime in the heart of Tehran.

One woman in Tel Aviv and two people in Abu Dhabi are the provisional death toll from the wave of attacks against Middle Eastern countries unleashed by Tehran in response to the Israeli and U.S. attack to put an end to the Ayatollah regime.

In addition to confirmation from the Israeli Government and President Donald Trump himself, Iran’s state media confirmed late Saturday night the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei following a series of airstrikes carried out by U.S. and Israeli forces.

“The Supreme Leader of Iran has reached martyrdom,” state broadcaster IRIB reported, while the state-affiliated Mehr outlet stated that “This great scholar and mujahid (fighter) sacrificed his life to elevate Iran… and he is in the grand presence of martyrs above.” These and other state-controlled Iranian media outlets announced 40 days of national mourning following the ayatollah’s death.

In a televised address to the nation, Benjamin Netanyahu suggested that Israel may indeed have eliminated Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. However, the Israeli prime minister stopped short of confirming the claim.

(With information from AFP) Iran called Saturday on the U.N. Security Council to take "immediate" steps to halt what it said was an illegal attack by the United States and Israel.

In a letter to the U.N. secretary general, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the council must "address the U.S. and Israeli regime's acts of aggression" and "take the necessary and immediate measures to halt this unlawful use of force."

The Security Council, where the United States has veto power, will meet this Saturday at 4 p.m. EST to address "the situation in the Middle East" following the military operation launched by Washington and Israel against Iran, the U.N. announced.

An Israeli military official claimed that several senior Iranian officials have been eliminated. Satellite images showed severe damage to Ayatollah Khamenei's compound. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi assured that both the supreme leader and all the senior officials are alive.

JNS

Satellite imagery shows heavy damage at Khamenei compound

JNS (Jewish News Syndicate)

Iran responded to the U.S.-Israeli attack by launching missiles against Israel and U.S. bases in the region. In announcing the offensive, Trump advanced that "lives of courageous American heroes may be lost and we may have casualties that often happens in war."

These are the countries in the region with significant concentrations of American troops:

The Israeli army claimed Saturday to have attacked several meetings of senior Iranian officials in Tehran during its joint operation launched with the United States, according to AFP.

Israeli military added that it was still assessing the results of the attack and in a state of readiness in case the campaign spread. They also said to have been preparing for this attack for months.

According to Israeli public radio and television, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian are among the targets of the U.S.-Israeli offensive.

"My mind is racing with the thought that the murderous ayatollah's regime in Iran will soon be no more," wrote Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, one of the first congressmen to react to the U.S.-Israeli attack. "The biggest change in the Middle East in a thousand years is upon us."

"This operation has been well-planned. It will be violent, extensive and I believe, at the end of the day, successful," he stated, also assuring every serviceman participating in the operation that "if you are injured or fall, I believe with all my heart that your sacrifice makes your country and the world a better and safer place." "This moment is why you chose to serve."

Democrat John Fetterman also spoke in glowing terms, asserting that the president had shown a willingness "to do what’s right and necessary to produce real peace in the region." "God bless the United States, our great military, and Israel."

Fetterman broke ranks with his party's majority position on numerous occasions, particularly with respect to the Middle East. In the absence of several leading Democratic Party figures speaking out, the reaction of his party colleague and cameraman Ruben Gallego could be a first sign that Fetterman may be left alone in his support for the operation:

"I lost friends in Iraq to an illegal war. Young working-class kids should not pay the ultimate price for regime change and a war that hasn’t been explained or justified to the American people. We can support the democracy movement and the Iranian people without sending our troops to die."

In the diametrically opposite position was Republican Rep. Claudia Tenney, who posted an image of herself burning a portrait of Ayatollah Khamenei with a cigar. "Happy National Cigar Day," she wrote, referring to the date commemorated on Friday. The image alludes to photos that went viral of Iranian civilians protesting by setting fire to the portrait of Iran's top political and religious leader with cigarettes.

"My dear compatriots, decisive moments lie before us," assured Reza Pahlavi, son of the Iranian shah (king) deposed by the Islamic Revolution that installed the current regime. Pahlavi has become a central figure in the protests of recent months, postulating himself as the leader of a transition if the mullahs' government falls.

"The assistance that the President of the United States had promised to the brave people of Iran has now arrived. This is a humanitarian intervention, and its target is the Islamic Republic, its apparatus of repression, and its machinery of killing—not the country and great nation of Iran," he maintained. "However," he warned, "the final victory" depends on the Iranian people themselves. "The time to return to the streets is approaching."

He also addressed the security and law enforcement forces directly, reminding them that they were sworn to protect the nation, "not the Islamic Republic and its leaders." "Join the nation and help ensure a stable and secure transition. Otherwise, you will sink with Khamenei’s ship and his crumbling regime."

He also dedicated a few words to Trump: "The honorable people of Iran, despite the brutal repression and killings carried out by this regime, stood bravely for nearly two months. I now ask you to exercise the utmost possible caution to preserve the lives of civilians and my compatriots. The people of Iran are your natural allies and the allies of the free world, and they will not forget your assistance during the most difficult period of Iran’s contemporary history."

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A U.S. Fifth Fleet facility in Bahrain was hit in a "missile attack," local officials said Saturday, following bombings by the United States and Israel in neighboring Iran.

"The Fifth Fleet's service centre was subjected to a missile attack. We will provide you with details later," the Gulf monarchy's government said in a statement reported
by AFP. 

Iran had warned that it would attack U.S. bases in the region if attacked by the United States.

Barain is home to the U.S. Fifth Fleet, and is one of the countries that entered into relations with the State of Israel as part of the Abraham Accords, sponsored by Donald Trump.

"A short time ago, the United States military began major combat operations in Iran. Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime, a vicious group of very hard, terrible people.
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​Its menacing activities directly endanger the United States, our troops, our bases overseas and their allies throughout the world. For 47 years, the Iranian regime has chanted death to America and waged an unending campaign of bloodshed and mass murder, targeting the United States, our troops, and the innocent people in many, many countries.

Among the regime's very first acts was to back a violent takeover of the U.S. embassy in Tehran, holding dozens of American hostages for four 444 days. In 1983, Iran's proxies carried out the Marine Barracks bombing in Beirut that killed 241 American military personnel. In 2000, they knew and were probably involved with the attack on the USS Cole.

Many died. Iranian forces killed and maimed hundreds of American service members in Iraq. The regime's proxies have continued to launch countless attacks against American forces stationed in the Middle East in recent years, as well as U.S. naval and commercial vessels and international shipping lanes. It's been mass terror and we're not going to put up with it any longer.

From Lebanon to Yemen and Syria to Iraq, the regime has armed, trained and funded terrorist militias that have soaked the earth with blood and guts. And it was Iran's proxy, Hamas, that launched the monstrous Oct. 7th attacks on Israel, slaughtering more than 1,000 innocent people, including 46 Americans, while taking 12 of our citizens hostage.

It was brutal, something like the world has never seen before. Iran is the world's number one state sponsor of terror and just recently killed tens of thousands of its own citizens on the street as they protested. It has always been the policy of the United States, in particular, my administration, that this terrorist regime can never have a nuclear weapon.

I'll say it again, they can never have a nuclear weapon. That is why in Operation Midnight Hammer last June, we obliterated the regime's nuclear program at Fort Doe, Natanz and Isfahan. After that attack we warned them never to resume their malicious pursuit of nuclear weapons and we sought repeatedly to make a deal.

We tried, they wanted to do it, they didn't want to do it. Again, they wanted to do it, they didn't want to do it, they didn't know what was happening, they just wanted to practice evil. But Iran refused just as it has for decades and decades. They rejected every opportunity to renounce their nuclear ambitions and we can't take it anymore.

Instead, they attempted to rebuild their nuclear program and to continue developing long-range missiles that can now threaten our very good friends and allies in Europe, our troops stationed overseas and could soon reach the American homeland.

Just imagine how emboldened this regime would be if they ever had and actually were armed with nuclear weapons as a means to deliver their message. For these reasons, the United States military is undertaking a massive and ongoing operation to prevent this very wicked radical dictatorship from threatening America and our core national security interests.

We are going to destroy their missiles and raise their missile industry to the ground. It will be totally again obliterated. We're going to annihilate their navy.

We're going to ensure that the region's terrorist proxies can no longer destabilize the region or the world and attack our forces and no longer use their IEDs or roadside bombs, as they are sometimes called, to so gravely wound and kill thousands and thousands of people, including many Americans. And we will ensure that Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon.

It's a very simple message. They will never have nuclear weapon. This regime will soon learn that no one should challenge the strength and might of the United States Armed Forces. I built and rebuilt our military in my first administration, and there is no military on Earth even close to its power, strength, or sophistication.

My administration has taken every possible step to minimize the risk to U.S. personnel in the region. Even so, and I do not make this statement lightly, the Iranian regime seeks to kill. The lives of courageous American heroes may be lost and we may have casualties that often happens in war, but we're doing this not for now, we're doing this for the future and it is a noble mission.

We pray for every service member as they selflessly risk their lives to ensure that Americans and our children will never be threatened by a nuclear armed Iran. We ask God to protect all of our heroes in harm's way, and we trust that with his help, the men and women of the armed forces will prevail. We have the greatest in the world, and they will prevail.

To the members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, the armed forces, and all of the police, I say tonight that you must lay down your weapons and have complete immunity or in the alternative face certain death. So, lay down your arms, you will be treated fairly with total immunity or you will face certain death.

Finally, to the great proud people of Iran, I say tonight that the hour of your freedom is at hand. Stay sheltered, don't leave your home. It's very dangerous outside. Bombs will be dropping everywhere. When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will be probably your only chance for generations. For many years you have asked for America's help, but you never got it.

No president was willing to do what I am willing to do tonight. Now you have a president who is giving you what you want. So, let's see how you respond. America is backing you with overwhelming strength and devastating force. Now is the time to seize control of your destiny and to unleash the prosperous and glorious future That is close within your reach. This is the moment for action. Do not let it pass.

May God bless the brave men and women of America's armed forces. May God bless the United States of America. May God bless you all. Thank you."

"An additional barrage of missiles was launched towards the State of Israel. The public is requested to continue to follow the instructions of the Home Front Command, the public is requested to stay in protected spaces until official notice," the Israeli armed forces assured in a statement picked up by AFP.

Witnesses in Israel reported explosions in Jerusalem and other coordinates of the country.

The Israel Defense Forces announced that several alarms were triggered across the country:

The official Iranian agency, Irna, assured that President Masoud Pezeshkian is "safe and sound."

Immediately, the Iranian civil aviation department announced the closure of the country's airspace until further notice.

At the same time, communications are severely affected: phone calls stopped working and internet connection is very unstable, according to an AFP journalist.