Trump Says Next Iranian Leader Won’t ‘Last Long’ Without US Approval

The US military issued a safety warning to civilians in Iran on Sunday, urging them to stay home and saying Iranian forces were conducting military operations from heavily populated areas.

“The Iranian regime is using heavily populated civilian areas to conduct military operations, including launching one-way attack drones and ballistic missiles,” US Central Command said in a statement.

The military said Iranian forces were launching drones and ballistic missiles from crowded areas in cities including Dezful, Esfahan and Shiraz.

“US forces strongly urge civilians in Iran to remain indoors. The Iranian regime, by using densely populated civilian areas to conduct military operations, including the launch of one-way attack drones and ballistic missiles knowingly endangers the lives of innocent people,” CENTCOM said in another statement posted on its Persian language X page on Sunday.

The Israeli military said it carried out additional waves of strikes in Tehran on Sunday, targeting facilities linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and security forces.

“We completed additional waves of attacks in Tehran. The Aerospace Headquarters of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and 50 ammunition storage shelters were targeted,” the Israeli military said on its Persian-language X page.

“In this framework, the aerospace headquarters of the Iranian regime was targeted. This center was used as the site for receiving, distributing and researching by Iran’s Aerospace Organization,” it added.

The Israeli military said the complex included a control and operations building for the Khayyam satellite, which was launched in August 2022 and was used by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards for surveillance activities.

It also said it targeted dozens of other sites including an ammunition storage facility at a law enforcement base, a Basij unit base, law enforcement headquarters and a complex belonging to the ground forces of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.

Oman’s foreign minister condemned the US and Israeli attacks on Iran while also criticizing Iran’s retaliation against neighboring countries and calling for restraint and diplomacy.

“The action taken by Israel and the US against Iran is both immoral and illegal. But the retaliation by Iran against its neighbors is also deeply regrettable and unacceptable,” Oman’s foreign minister Badr Albusaidi said in a post on X.

“I call for restraint on all sides, a ceasefire, and an urgent return to diplomacy,” he added.

Pope Leo XIV voiced concern that the conflict involving Iran could spread across the Middle East and destabilize other countries in the region, including Lebanon.

“Reports from Iran and across the entire Middle East continue to cause deep dismay and raise the fear that the conflict will expand, and that other countries in the region, including dear Lebanon, may once again sink into instability,” Pope Leo XIV said in a post on X.

“Let us pray together for the roar of bombs to cease, weapons to fall silent, and space to open for dialogue, in which people’s voices may be heard,” he added.

Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit said the strikes on civilian targets and critical infrastructure were a grave strategic mistake and a reckless move that threatened regional stability.

The bloc said Iranian attacks on civilian facilities and infrastructure could widen the conflict and deepen hostility across the region.

Arab League foreign ministers are due to hold an emergency meeting on Sunday to discuss the escalating tensions.

—Iran International