US to reinforce forces in Middle East, Joint Chiefs chairman says

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Monday that “crazy regimes like Iran, hell-bent on prophetic Islamist delusions, cannot have nuclear weapons,” as he defended a major US military operation against Tehran ordered by President Donald Trump.

Speaking at a news conference, Hegseth said the operation, launched two days ago under Trump’s direct orders, was “the most lethal, most complex and most precise aerial operation in history.”

He accused Iran’s leadership of waging what he called a decades-long war against the United States through proxy forces and attacks on US targets in the Middle East.

“We didn’t start this war, but under President Trump, we are finishing it,” Hegseth said.

“If you kill Americans, if you threaten Americans anywhere on Earth, we will hunt you down without apology and without hesitation, and we will kill you,” he added.

Hegseth said Trump had drawn a clear line after years of what he called Iranian belligerence and reiterated that Washington would not allow Tehran to obtain nuclear weapons.

Iran’s cultural heritage minister said the UNESCO-listed Golestan Palace in Tehran sustained damage in recent US-Israeli air strikes and that Tehran will submit a formal report to UNESCO.

Visiting the site, Minister Reza Salehi-Amiri said the damage to the complex was an attack not only on a building but on "Iran’s cultural and national identity."

Polish energy group PKN Orlen said on Monday that its liquefied natural gas supplies from Qatar remained safe despite tensions in the Middle East.

The company, which is Poland’s largest oil refiner and fuel retailer, said one LNG tanker had passed through the Strait of Hormuz and was sailing along the South African coast on Sunday.

Orlen added that another LNG delivery from Qatar was scheduled for April.

Four US service members have been killed in action following Iran’s attacks, US Central Command said on Monday.

CENTCOM said a fourth service member who had been seriously wounded later died of injuries.

Major combat operations are continuing and response efforts are ongoing, it said. The identities of the dead are being withheld pending notification of next of kin.

Power outages and explosions were reported in parts of Tehran and other Iranian cities on Monday amid US-Israeli airstrikes, eyewitness told Iran International.

They said electricity was cut in some areas of eastern Tehran while a large plume of smoke was seen rising in central areas.

Residents in the northwestern city of Urmia also reported hearing several explosions, while others in Karaj, central Iran, said they heard fighter jets flying overhead.