US forces struck Iranian drone carrier Shahid Bagheri within hours of launching Operation Epic Fury, US Central Command said on Monday.
The vessel had previously been described by Alireza Tangsiri, commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards navy, as “the largest naval military project since the revolution, and even in West Asia” during its unveiling ceremony.
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.
The death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has thrust a rather obscure figure into the center of the country’s uncertain political future.
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.
Ukraine could send drone specialists to the Middle East and share its expertise in countering Iranian-made drones if its partners help broker a ceasefire in its war with Russia, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha told Reuters on Monday.
Sybiha said Ukraine’s success rate in intercepting Iranian-designed Shahed drones had reached up to 90%, aided in part by the use of domestically produced interceptor drones.
“We won't be able to send all of our operators, but we can certainly send some of them if the absence of Russian strikes against our country is guaranteed,” he said.
