Video: US B-1 bombers strike targets deep inside Iran

“From the beginning, we projected four to five weeks, but we have capability to go far longer than that, we'll do it," Trump said on Monday. "Whatever somebody said today, they said, Oh, well, President wants to do it really quickly. After that, he'll get bored. I don't get bored.”

Trump said while the campaign was initially expected to last four to five weeks, Washington is prepared to sustain operations as long as necessary.

His remarks come after he told the New York Post he would not rule out deploying American ground troops “if they were necessary,” while describing the military operation — dubbed Operation Epic Fury — as already “way ahead of schedule.”

The operation, launched Saturday in a joint US-Israel strike on Tehran, killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and targeted key military and leadership infrastructure.

Speaking Monday, Trump framed the campaign as a decisive effort to neutralize what he called an existential threat posed by Tehran.

“This was our last best chance to strike what we're doing right now and eliminate the intolerable threats posed by this sick and sinister regime and they are indeed sick and sinister,” he said.

Trump outlined four primary objectives: destroying Iran’s missile capabilities, dismantling its naval forces, preventing Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, and stopping the regime from arming and directing proxy groups abroad.

“First, we're destroying Iran's missile capabilities, and you see that happening on an hourly basis,” he said. “Second, we're annihilating their navy. We've knocked out already 10 ships. They're at the bottom of the sea.”

He added, “We're ensuring that the world's number one sponsor of terror can never obtain a nuclear weapon. Never going to have a nuclear weapon.”

In remarks to CNN earlier, Trump said the US military is “knocking the crap” out of Iran but warned a larger phase of operations may still be ahead, urging civilians inside Iran to remain indoors because conditions were unsafe.

US service members killed

The White House address also struck a somber tone as Trump confirmed four US service members were killed following Iranian attacks in the region.

“Today, we grieve for the four heroic American service members who have been killed in action, and send our love and support to their families,” he said.

“In their memory, we continue this mission with ferocious, unyielding resolve to crush the threat this terrorist regime poses to the American people.”

US Central Command confirmed the fatalities Monday, underscoring the growing regional escalation as Iran launched new waves of attacks on US bases, according to Iranian state media.

Regional tensions intensified further after the United Arab Emirates said its air defenses intercepted nine Iranian ballistic missiles, six cruise missiles and dozens of drones, while Qatar announced it had shot down two Iranian Su-24 bombers.

Energy markets were also shaken as drone strikes forced shutdowns at a major Saudi refinery and oil and gas facilities in Israel and Iraq’s Kurdish region, pushing global oil prices sharply higher.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth described the campaign as “limited and decisive,” saying the objective is to destroy Iran’s missile and nuclear threats rather than launch an open-ended war.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said Monday it had no indication Iran’s nuclear facilities suffered major damage, though Tehran’s envoy claimed the Natanz enrichment site was struck.

Iranian state media also reported that Mansoureh Khojasteh Bagherzadeh, the wife of Ali Khamenei, died following the US-Israeli airstrikes.

Trump insisted the United States holds overwhelming military advantage.

“We have the strongest and most powerful by far military in the world, and we will easily prevail,” he said. “We're already substantially ahead of our time projections. But whatever the time is, it's okay. Whatever it takes, we will.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi began yelling at US envoy Steve Witkoff after the US delegation laid out its demand that Iran not enrich uranium for the next 10 years during last Thursday’s talks in Geneva aimed at averting war, NBC News reported, citing a senior Trump administration official.

“If you prefer, I can leave,” Witkoff responded, according to the report.

Afterward, the US delegation reported back to President Donald Trump what had happened. Trump was “nonplussed,” the report quoted the senior official as saying.

President Donald Trump says the US has the capability to continue Iran strikes far longer than the five-week projection.

"From the beginning, we projected four to five weeks, but we have capability to go far longer than that, we'll do it. Whatever somebody said today, they said, Oh, well, President wants to do it really quickly. After that, he'll get bored. I don't get bored."

In the memory of the four Americans killed, "we continue this mission with ferocious, unyielding resolve to crush the threat this terrorist regime poses to the American people, and a threat, indeed it is. We have the strongest and most powerful by far military in the world, and we will easily prevail. We're already substantially ahead of our time projections. But whatever the time is, it's okay. Whatever it takes, we will always and we have from right."

The United Arab Emirates said its air defenses intercepted nine Iranian ballistic missiles, six cruise missiles and 148 drones on Monday.

“Since the beginning of the Iranian attack, 174 ballistic missiles launched toward the country have been detected, of which 161 were destroyed while 13 fell into the sea,” the UAE Ministry of Defence said in a statement.

“A total of 689 Iranian drones were also detected, with 645 intercepted and 44 landing within the country’s territory,” it added. “Additionally, 8 cruise missiles were detected and destroyed, causing some collateral damage.”

The ministry said the incidents resulted in three fatalities and 68 minor injuries.

Hardline cleric Alireza Arafi is now one of the three members of the interim leadership council tasked with filling the power vacuum after Khamenei’s demise. Within clerical circles he is widely viewed as a potential contender for the country’s highest office. Outside them, most Iranians have barely heard his name.

Many Iranian journalists and political activists abroad assume Arafi will eventually emerge as Khamenei’s successor. Yet Iran’s opaque succession process offers no guarantees.

To become Supreme Leader, Arafi would first have to be nominated by a committee within the Assembly of Experts, the body responsible for choosing the next leader, in a session attended by at least two-thirds of its 88 members. He would then need the support of two-thirds of those present — roughly 40 elderly clerics. None of this is assured.

There is also no certainty that the Islamic Republic will survive long enough to appoint a new Supreme Leader, nor that Arafi, or other potential contenders such as Hassan Khomeini, will emerge unscathed from the current turmoil.

On Sunday night, online rumors even claimed that Arafi had been targeted and killed.

A Khamenei Protégé

Over the past two decades, Arafi has been one of Khamenei’s favored clerics. The Supreme Leader elevated him to senior religious positions, granted him access to substantial financial resources and helped him climb the institutional ladder that led to political influence.

Yet within the interim leadership council he has the least political experience.

President Massoud Pezeshkian, despite his limited political background, has greater public visibility. Chief Justice Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei, a former intelligence minister, is the only seasoned political figure in the trio, though he rarely speaks publicly about politics.

Arafi’s only clear advantage is that, unlike the other two, he has not been publicly associated with the violent crackdown ordered by Khamenei during the January protests.

Arafi’s influence stems largely from his leadership of Al-Mustafa International University, his position as dean of the Qom seminary and his membership in the Assembly of Experts — all roles granted or supported by Khamenei.

The Supreme Leader praised him for his ideas on expanding Shiite influence abroad.

Despite lacking political experience, Arafi is known for unwavering loyalty to Khamenei and his ideological outlook. He is considered more hardline than the late leader on cultural issues such as compulsory hijab and has advocated the full implementation of Shiite jurisprudence in governance.

Arafi’s Background

Born in 1959 into a clerical family in Maybod near Yazd in central Iran, Arafi’s ascent began in 2002 when Khamenei approved his proposal for an international university to train Shiite clerics worldwide.

He was soon appointed dean of the institution and granted a substantial budget, a recurring point of criticism among economists and journalists during annual budget debates.

Al-Mustafa now operates more than 80 branches abroad and teaches more than 14,000 students online and in person, placing Arafi at the center of a global clerical network.

Under Khamenei, Arafi also served on the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, as one of the 12 jurists of the Guardian Council and as a key member of the Assembly of Experts — the very body tasked with choosing the next Supreme Leader, if the Islamic Republic endures.

The country is passing through one of the most volatile periods in its modern history, raising doubts not only about who might succeed Khamenei but about whether the Islamic Republic will survive long enough for that question to be answered.

Even for figures now described as potential successors, the title “future leader” may prove more fragile than it appears.