Trump refuses to rule out sending troops into Iran

Tehran launches missile, drone attacks against US military installations across Persian Gulf

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump signaled on Monday that US strikes on Iran could go much longer than originally predicted as he refused to rule out sUS troops into Iran.

Iran launched waves of missile and drone attacks against a range of US military installations, allied bases and infrastructure across the Persian Gulf. The war between Iran and US-Israeli coalition has rapidly expanded into a broader regional conflagration, drawing in multiple countries across the Middle East and beyond, as retaliatory attacks and military operations escalate just days after Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was martyred in a joint US-Israeli strike.

In his first public comments since launching the military operation, the president who long campaigned for “no new wars” laid out what he said were four key objectives for hitting Iran.

Trump also said that the timeframe he initially gave could drag out, raising fears among right-wing supporters in particular of a return the Middle Eastern entanglements he once opposed.

“From the beginning we projected four to five weeks, but we have capability to go far longer than that,” Trump said at the start of a medal presentation event at the White House.

The US president for the first time clearly laid out four explicit goals for Operation Epic Fury, saying it was the “last, best chance” to hit Washington’s decades-long arch-foe.

“First, we’re destroying Iran’s missile capabilities… Second, we’re annihilating their navy… Third, we’re ensuring that the world’s number-one sponsor of terror can never obtain a nuclear weapon.

“Finally we are ensuring the Iranian regime can’t continue to arm, fund and direct terrorist armies outside of their borders.”

Trump had previously made different and sometimes contradictory comments on the conflict in a series of telephone interviews since the strikes began on Saturday.

He refused to rule out sending US troops into Iran in an interview with the New York Post on Monday. That could risk far higher casualties than the four service members killed so far. “I don’t have the yips with respect to boots on the ground,” Trump said, using a golf term for anxiety. “Every president says, ‘There will be no boots on the ground.’ I don’t say it.”

Trump also spoke to CNN on Monday, flagging what he said would be an escalation in the assault on Iran. “The big wave hasn’t even happened,” he said. “The big one is coming soon.”

Iran launched waves of missile and drone attacks against a range of US military installations, allied bases and infrastructure across the Persian Gulf. Explosions and impacts have been reported in Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and other Gulf states, causing significant disruption.

In one of the most dramatic developments, three US F-15E warplanes were shot down over Kuwait after the country’s air defences mistakenly engaged the aircraft amid the chaos of combat operations. Iran’s retaliatory strikes targeted energy infrastructure and critical facilities across the region. State energy companies report Qatar’s LNG export operations at Ras Laffan were halted after drone attacks forced production to stop, affecting roughly 20pc of global liquefied natural gas supplies.

Saudi Arabia’s massive Ras Tanura oil refinery complex was struck by Iranian drones, briefly igniting fires and leading to shutdowns at key oil export terminals.

Officials in the UAE also reported repeated interceptions of missiles and drones, with civilian and industrial areas impacted by debris and explosions. Monitoring Desk