The USS Abraham Lincoln carrier and a US Air Force B-52H Stratofortress, conduct joint exercises in the US Central Command area of responsibility in the Arabian Sea on June 1, 2019. © Brian M. Wilbur, US Navy via AP
- The Pentagon confirmed Sunday that three U.S. troops have been killed in the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, the first American casualties of the conflict, now on its second day. Iran’s military has lashed out against the strikes with missiles targeting ships and countries across the Middle East. Israeli medics said at least eight people were killed in a blast near Jerusalem.
- Iranians were gathering Sunday for the funeral of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed along with about 40 other senior members of the Islamic Republic’s regime in the joint U.S.-Israeli assault that sparked the new war in the Middle East.
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country’s strikes on Iran “will increase even more in the coming days.” President Trump said he’s agreed to speak with Iran.
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Gang of Eight lawmakers, who are briefed on classified matters, that the timing and scope of the joint operation were influenced by Israel’s determination to proceed with strikes with or without the U.S., a person familiar with the matter said.
- Trump says he’s agreed to talk with Iran
- President Trump told The Atlantic’s Michael Scherer in a phone call Sunday morning that Iran’s new leaders want to talk with him, and he plans to do so.
- “They want to talk, and I have agreed to talk, so I will be talking to them. They should have done it sooner. They should have given what was very practical and easy to do sooner. They waited too long,” Mr. Trump told Scherer. He did not say when he will be speaking with the Iranians.
- Scherer said the president, after seeing people in the streets celebrating in Iran and in the U.S., seemed confident that the Iranian people would rise up, saying, “That is going to happen. You are seeing that, and I think it’s gonna happen. A lot of people are extremely happy over there and in Los Angeles and in many other places.”
- Though some oil analysts are watching to see if oil prices rise when those markets open Sunday night, Mr. Trump predicted that because the operation has been successful so far, it would be less likely to cause a spike in oil prices.
- “This could have been a huge price increase with respect to oil, if things went wrong,” Mr. Trump said.
- CBS
