Photo: US-Israeli forces bomb oil storage facilities in Tehran
What to know on the ninth day of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran
- President Trump, who has called for Iran’s “unconditional surrender,” indicated on Saturday he has no timetable for the war, telling reporters, “I never project that, whatever it takes.”
- Mr. Trump told CBS News that the U.S. has been successful in diminishing the Iranian military and regime, and will continue to expand its targets inside Iran.
- Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian threatened to step up attacks on American targets throughout the Middle East: “When we are attacked, we have no choice but to respond.”
- Iranian clerics said a consensus on a new supreme leader has been reached, but a name has not been announced.
- Before Khamenei’s death, no one had been officially declared to be his designated successor, nor had anyone been proposed as a potential nominee, though various sources such as Reuters and BBC News have reported on potential candidates
- Israel warns it will pursue Iran’s next supreme leader
- Israeli military said also will target every person who seeks to appoint a successor for killed supreme leader Ali Khamenei
- OIL DEPOTS HIT BY STRIKES: Several oil depots in Tehran were hit by airstrikes overnight, according to semiofficial news agency Fars, with video from the city showing large fires and an orange sky.
Energy secretary says “period of elevated energy prices” will be temporary since “this is not a long-term war”
Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Sunday that the “period of elevated energy prices” will be temporary, “but it will not be long,” as the Iran war continued into a second week.
Oil and gas prices “shouldn’t go much higher than they are here because the world is very well supplied with oil,” Wright said on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.” He insisted there is “no energy shortage at all,” saying the U.S. is a large exporter of natural gas and although refineries in Europe and Asia are seeing “interruptions in their crude flows,” there are “massive energy stores around the world.”
“What you want is emotional reactions and fear that this is a long-term war,” Wright said. “This is not a long-term war; it’s a temporary movement.”
Wright said the U.S. still has 400 million gallons of oil in the strategic oil reserve, and “we’re more than happy to use that if it’s needed.” But he added that it’s a “logistics issue” because refineries in Europe and Asia need oil.
“We’re just doing pragmatic things to get through a short period that will that will bring in an era of even lower energy prices because a major energy-producing region of the world, the Middle East, will no longer have a strong, powerful Iran that can threaten their neighbors, that can threaten the United States of America and that was not far away from a nuclear bomb.”
US to seize Iran’s nuclear stockpile
The U.S. and Israel have discussed sending special forces into Iran to secure its stockpile of highly enriched uranium at a later stage of the war, according to four sources with knowledge of the discussions.
Preventing Iran from ever obtaining a nuclear weapon is one of President Trump’s stated war objectives. The regime’s 450 kilograms of 60%-enriched uranium — convertible to weapons grade within weeks — is one key to that goal.
Any operation to seize the material would likely require U.S. or Israeli troops on Iranian soil, navigating heavily fortified underground facilities in the middle of a war.
IDF issues evacuation warning for large area in southern Lebanon
The Israel Defense Forces issued an evacuation warning for residents of Lebanon living south of the Litani River, a large and densely populated area of the country’s south.
The IDF said it is targeting the area with “great force” due to the presence of militants from the Iranian-backed group Hezbollah.
“For your safety and the safety of your families, you must move immediately to the north of the Litani River,” an IDF spokesperson said in a statement. “Staying south of the Litani River could endanger your life and the lives of your families.”
The warning comes after the IDF previously issued evacuation notices for neighborhoods in Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, as it conducted strikes on Hezbollah targets.
