Retaliation for Riyadh embassy attack and slain troops coming soon, Trump says

Vice President JD Vance on Monday defended President Trump’s launch of Operation Epic Fury and the joint US–Israel campaign targeting Iran’s regime, saying the president acted to ensure Tehran could never develop a nuclear weapon.

“What President determined is he didn’t want to just keep the country safe from an Iranian nuclear weapon for the first 3, 4 years of his second term. He wanted to make sure that Iran could never have a nuclear weapon... he saw that the Iranian regime was weakened," Vane told Fox. "He knew that they were committed to getting on that brink of a nuclear weapon, and he decided to take action because he felt that was necessary in order to protect the nation’s security.”

The United States is preparing for a major increase in attacks on Iran over the next 24 hours, CNN cited a senior US official on Monday after an initial round of strikes Washington says weakened Iranian defenses.

The official said the "next phase will focus on destroying Iran’s missile production, unmanned aerial vehicles, and naval capability."

President Donald Trump previewed the escalation in an interview with CNN, saying the US “hasn’t even started hitting them hard” and that “the big one is coming soon.”

A loud blast triggered a fire at the US Embassy complex in Riyadh early Tuesday (local time), sources told Reuters, prompting the embassy to issue an immediate shelter-in-place alert for American citizens in Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dhahran.

No casualties have been reported amid escalating regional tensions.

House Speaker Mike Johnson voiced his support for Operation Epic Fury on Monday, saying it was a defensive and decisive action to counter Iran’s imminent threat to US troops and assets.

“Operation Epic Fury was a defensive and decisive action taken to counter the imminent threat posed by Iran’s aggression toward American troops, citizens, installations, and assets. Our intelligence confirmed that inaction would have resulted in dire consequences," Johnson said.

"We continue to pray for our troops while they carry out this limited but critical mission," he added.

US President Trump spoke by phone with Kurdish leaders Masoud Barzani and Bafel Talabaniin in Iraq on Sunday to discuss the US -Israel war with Iran and what might come next, Axios reported on Monday.

Asked specifically about Trump's calls with the Kurds, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt declined to discuss specifics.

"President Trump has been in contact with many allies and partners in the region throughout the past several days," she told Axios.