Center Square

Combat operations will continue in Iran at “full force” until American “objectives are achieved,” President Donald Trump said during his second address to the nation since Operation Epic Fury commenced.
Trump described the operation as the “largest, most complex, most overwhelming military offensive the world has ever seen,” adding thatr American forces have hit “hundreds of targets in Iran.”
He called Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the initial strikes, a “wretched and vile man” who had the “blood of hundreds and even thousands of Americans on his hands.”
The president claims that the “entire” Iranian military command is gone, adding that thousands are offering to surrender. Trump reiterated that he gave the Iranian regime weeks to make a deal, but they declined.
Trump remarked on the announcement from U.S. Central Command Sunday morning that three service members were killed in action as a result of Iranian strikes.
“As one nation, we grieve for the true American patriots who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation, even as we continue the righteous mission for which they gave their lives, we pray for the full recovery of the wounded and send our immense love and eternal gratitude to the families of the fallen,” said the president.
He warned that “there will likely be more before it ends,” adding that the U.S. will do everything it can to deter further casualties.
“America will avenge their deaths and deliver the most punishing blow to the terrorists who have waged war against basically … They have waged war against civilization itself. Our resolve and, likewise, that of Israel, has never been stronger. America is now again the richest, most powerful nation in the world by far. But the only reason we enjoy the quality of life that we do and the freedom and security is we have done things that others are unable to do, but it’s because of warriors who are willing to lay down their lives to do battle with our enemies, and they do battle better than anybody,” Trump lamented.
The president repeated concerns over the Iranian regime possessing long-range missiles and nuclear weapons, underscoring the threat to America.
“We’re undertaking this massive operation not merely to ensure security for our own time and place, but for our children and their children, just as our ancestors have done for us many, many years ago. This is the duty and the burden of a free people. These actions are right and they are necessary to ensure that Americans will never have to face a radical, bloodthirsty terrorist regime armed with nuclear weapons and lots of threats,” said the president.

Nine Iranian ships have been “destroyed and sunk” by U.S. forces as part of Operation Epic Fury, according to President Donald Trump.
The president’s announcement comes as the joint coordinated U.S.-Israeli strikes enter their second day.
“I have just been informed that we have destroyed and sunk 9 Iranian Naval Ships, some of them relatively large and important. We are going after the rest — They will soon be floating at the bottom of the sea, also! In a different attack, we largely destroyed their Naval Headquarters. Other than that, their Navy is doing very well!” Trump wrote in the Truth Social post.
In addition, U.S. Central Command said that American B-2 stealth bombers “armed with 2,000 lb. bombs, struck Iran’s hardened ballistic missile facilities.”
The targeting of Iranian military assets comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israeli forces were “striking at the heart of Tehran with intensifying force, and this will only grow stronger in the coming days.”
Trump issued a message to Iran overnight, warning the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps not to escalate the situation further.
“Iran just stated that they are going to hit very hard today, harder than they have ever hit before. THEY BETTER NOT DO THAT, HOWEVER, BECAUSE IF THEY DO, WE WILL HIT THEM WITH A FORCE THAT HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE!” Trump posted to his Truth Social account.
CENTCOM announced Sunday morning that U.S. forces sustained their first casualties, with three service members killed in action as a result of the strikes. Five have been seriously injured.
Trump told The Atlantic in an interview Sunday morning that Iranian officials want to talk.
“They want to talk, and I have agreed to talk, so I will be talking to them. They should have done it sooner. They should have given what was very practical and easy to do sooner. They waited too long,” the president told the publication.
It is unclear with whom officials Trump would be speaking following confirmation from the president and Israeli officials that nearly 50 of Iran’s top leadership have been eliminated, including their Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments on Monday in a consequential case over whether regular drug users can possess firearms.
The case, U.S. v. Hemani centers around a Texas man who was charged with a felony after FBI agents found a pistol, marijuana and cocaine in his home after obtaining a search warrant, a petition to the court read.
The Trump administration petitioned the high court to hear the case after a lower court struck down the law barring people who use drugs such as marijuana from possessing firearms.
Lawyers for Ali Hemani argue that the federal law barring a person who “is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance” violates the Second Amendment.
“An individual’s Second Amendment rights are not restricted until a judge makes a finding of a credible safety threat to the safety of others,” lawyers for Hemani wrote in a brief to the court.
The government argued that analogous laws in the founding-era align with the decision to restrict unlawful users of controlled substances from possessing firearms. It pointed to laws restricting drunkards from possessing weapons.
“They did have laws on the books to deal with habitual drunkards. Individuals who were habitually drunk, abused alcoholic beverages, which were well known at the founding era,” said Zack Smith, a legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation.
However, Hemani’s lawyers argued that founding-era law did not specifically prevent drunkards from possessing firearms.
“The government fails to identify any relevant Founding-era tradition or regulation disarming ordinary citizens who consumed alcohol,” Hemani’s lawyers wrote, citing a lower court’s decision.
Smith argued that the problem of controlled substances was not widely known before the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He said once the issue was more widely understood, laws restricting firearm possession became more common.
“States pretty uniformly enacted some type of restriction on users of controlled substances and firearms, and that has remained an unbroken tradition essentially for the past 100 plus years,” Smith said.
Hemani’s lawyers have argued that the language of the statute barring unlawful users of controlled substances is vague. They pointed out that the law does not include a quantity or time limitation on the controlled substances use.
“The temporal nexus is most generously described as vague – it does not specify how recently an individual must ‘use’ drugs to qualify for prohibition,” Hemani’s lawyers wrote.
The lawyers also argued that Hemani was only an unlawful user of marijuana, not cocaine, even though it was found by the FBI at his home.
The Trump administration argued that regular drug users can simply stop their use to regain access to firearms under the law.
“By disqualifying only habitual users of illegal drugs from possessing firearms, the statute imposes a limited, inherently temporary restriction – one which the individual can remove at any time simply by ceasing his unlawful drug use,” Trump administration lawyers wrote.
“This could have far reaching implications, obviously because many states have moved to decriminalize or legalize marijuana usage in some instances, even though it still does remain a controlled substance under federal law,” Smith said.

U.S. Central Command is calling claims by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard that it struck the USS Abraham Lincoln a “lie.”
The IRGC said that it had targeted the Lincoln, one of the two U.S. aircraft carriers in the region, with four ballistic missiles.
In response, CENTCOM quickly denied the claims by the Islamic Republic.
“The Lincoln was not hit. The missiles launched didn’t even come close. The Lincoln continues to launch aircraft in support to CENTOM’s relentless campaign to defend the American people by eliminating threats from the Iranian regime,” according to an X post from CENTCOM.
The claim by the IRGC comes on the heels of an earlier announcement from CENTCOM that three U.S. service members have been killed in action in Iranian strikes as part of Operation Epic Fury.
In addition to the three killed, five have been seriously wounded. CENTCOM added that several other service members “sustained minor shrapnel injuries and concussions,” and are not in the process of returning to duty.
Those killed mark the first casualties of Operation Epic Fury, which began Saturday in the early morning hours.
In retaliation for the coordinated joint U.S.-Israeli strikes against the Islamic regime, Iran has been carrying out strikes against Gulf nations housing U.S. bases and troops, including the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet Headquarters in Bahrain.
On Saturday, CENTCOM downplayed the damage sustained to bases in the region, describing it as “minimal.”
President Donald Trump warned the U.S. “may have casualties” when he addressed the nation and world shortly after the strikes began.
Overnight, the president issued a stern warning to the IRGC against further escalation in the region.
“Iran just stated that they are going to hit very hard today, harder than they have ever hit before. THEY BETTER NOT DO THAT, HOWEVER, BECAUSE IF THEY DO, WE WILL HIT THEM WITH A FORCE THAT HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE!” Trump posted to his Truth Social account.
The president, who has been overseeing the operations from his Palm Beach home, is scheduled to return to Washington D.C. Sunday.

Three U.S. service members have been killed in action by Iranian strikes as part of Operation Epic Fury, according to U.S. Central Command.
In addition to the three killed, five have been seriously wounded. CENTCOM added that several other service members “sustained minor shrapnel injuries and concussions,” and are not in the process of returning to duty.
CENTCOM described the situation as “fluid” and would not release further information, including identities, until 24 hours after the next of kin have been notified. It is unclear if those killed were stationed on the ground at one of the bases in the region, at sea or in the air.
Those killed mark the first casualties of Operation Epic Fury, which began Saturday in the early morning hours and led to the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
The fatalities come on the heels of CENTCOM announcing that U.S. forces had struck an Iranian Naval Jamaran-class ship, saying that the vessel “is currently sinking at the bottom of the Gulf of Oman” – pier side.
In retaliation for the coordinated joint U.S.-Israeli strikes against the Islamic regime, Iran has been carrying out strikes against Gulf nations housing U.S. bases and troops, including the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet Headquarters in Bahrain.
On Saturday, CENTCOM downplayed the damage sustained to bases in the region, describing it as “minimal.”
President Donald Trump warned the U.S. “may have casualties” when he addressed the nation and world shortly after the strikes began.
The president, who has been overseeing the operations from his Palm Beach home, is scheduled to return to Washington Sunday.

Ahead of the U.S. strikes against Iranian leaders on Saturday, federal agents had already been addressing Iranian threats in the U.S. and on the high seas.
On Friday, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia sought to forfeit the Motor Tanker Skipper, a crude oil tanker seized by U.S. forces on the high seas last December carrying approximately 1.8 million barrels of crude oil supplied by Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PdVSA), Venezuela’s state-owned oil company. The ship was part of a shadow fleet connected to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), including the IRGC-Qods Force (IRGC-QF), a designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO), authorities allege.
The ship left the José Terminal in Venezuela with 1.1 million barrels scheduled to be delivered to Cubametales, the Cuban state-run oil import and export company. The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned the Cuban company in July 2019. It also sanctioned the Skipper in 2022, which was previously named Adisa. After it was sanctioned, the ship’s name was changed to avoid detection, investigators found.
Last December, U.S. forces seized the Skipper on the high seas pursuant to a seizure warrant. At that time, the crew were flying a false Guyanese flag, rendering the ship stateless. The Skipper and its cargo were transported to waters off the coast of Texas.
The charges allege that since at least 2021, PdVSA was facilitating shipping and selling petroleum products to benefit the IRGC and IRGC-QF. This involved the Skipper moving crude oil from Iran and Venezuela through ship-to-ship transfers worldwide. False flags were flown to disguise its alleged illicit activities to evade detection and sanctions.
In 2024, the Skipper delivered approximately three million barrels of crude oil from Iran to Syria and was transporting illicit oil from Iran and Venezuela last year, investigators allege.
Revenue from selling the illicit petroleum supported IRGC activities, including “the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery, support for terrorism and both domestic and international human rights abuses,” the Department of Justice says. Ghost fleets play an essential role in generating revenue for despotic regimes by moving Iranian and other illicit oil around the world, the DOJ says.
The Trump administration has also brought justice to an Iranian journalist and human rights activists, Mashi Alinejad, who’s been seeking refuge in Brooklyn, New York. The IRGC and Iranian intelligence service have been hunting her for years. Last year, two Georgian nationals and members of a Russian mob faction were sentenced to 25 years in prison for attempting to kidnap and murder her, The Center Square reported.
After the Russian mobsters’ attempts failed, the IRGC hired a convicted murderer in New York to kill her, Carlisle Rivera, known as “Pop.” He was inmates with an Iranian, Farhad Shakeri, who was also serving time for manslaughter. After Shakeri was released and returned to Iran as an IRGC asset, he offered Rivera $100,000 to find and kill Alinejad, according to the charges. His efforts also failed. Shakeri remains at large.
Last month, Rivera was sentenced to 15 years in prison for his role in an IRGC murder-for-hire scheme.
In Philadelphia, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers also confiscated a shipment of ancient artifacts that had been shipped out of Iran to the U.S. in a major antiquities’ theft case.
Officers seized 36 copper-alloy short swords and 50 copper-alloy arrowheads that date to the Bronze Age, CBP said.
The shipment initially arrived on an express delivery flight from the United Arab Emirates in October but took several months for archaeologists to determine their origin.
CBP officers initially X-rayed the shipment, discovered the cultural artifacts and held them to be investigated by the National Targeting Center’s Antiquities Unit. Working with archaeologists affiliated with a local Philadelphia university, they authenticated the short swords and arrowheads dating to between 1600-1000 BCE.
They believe they originated from an area along the southwestern Caspian Sea near the lush Talish Mountains region of Iran and were illegally excavated from ancient burial sites.
Multiple federal agencies were involved in the seizures and investigations.
Federal authorities are also searching for more than 700 Iranians who were released into the country by the Biden administration, The Center Square reported.

Iranian nationals celebrating the death of Iran’s leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday clashed with protestors criticizing the Trump administration’s military actions in Iran.
As many as 50 Iranian nationals chanted, cheered, played music and danced outside the White House on Saturday, according to organizers. The Center Square spoke with several Iranian nationals who expressed joy about Khamenei’s death.
One Iranian national, Niki, who asked to be referred to by her first name only, moved to the United States three months ago after persecutions of Iranian regime protestors became more deadly. She described the community in Iran as one big family.
“All of the people in Iran are like our family, there’s no difference,” Niki said. “When we see that people are murdered, people are suffering in our country, there’s no doubt that we will suffer here too.”
The Iranian regime has been responding violently to protesters within its own country, killing and jailing an unknown number.
Niki said she hopes a democratic process will prevail in Iran after the military actions. She called on the Iranian people to hold elections and install a leader who represents the people.
“We have very good politicians, very good people, very intelligent and smart people that are in prison in Iran,” she said. “If they are freed, I’m sure that they will find a good leader between the people who are now in Iran.”
Several Iranian nationals brought homemade signs that denounced calling the military actions a war with Iran. Others banged on drums and declared messages of hope. Many had signs thanking President Trump for the United States’ military action.
“We don’t see it as a war with the Iranian people,” Mo, an Iranian national who has lived in the United States for 10 years, said. “We see it as a humanitarian intervention.”
He also called on the Iranian people to take power of the government and hold democratic elections.. He said he would visit the country again if it was opened up and it became safer to do so.
Mo pointed to Reza Pahlavi, an activist and Iranian dissent leader in exile in the United States, to lead the country after the Ayatollah’s death.
“We trust him and his teams after these things calm down,” he said. “The solution will be a referendum; people can freely vote for what type of government they choose.”
Alongside the Iranian people’s celebrations, several protestors gathered to criticize the Trump administration’s actions in Iran. Robert Chase, a progressive activist, questioned whether Khamenei’s death would lead to lasting change in Iran.
“There will eventually be another Ayatollah, presumably, because that is the structure of their government,” Chase said. “None of our goals have really been realized, just the decapitation of some of the more visible and vocal people opposing the United States, but there’s plenty more of them.”
Lawmakers have vowed to hold a vote on a War Powers Resolution to halt further military action in the country. Chase said he was skeptical that such a resolution would pass in Congress without a Democratic majority in either chamber.
“He campaigned as an isolationist, he’s governed as a would-be imperialist,” Chase said.
Overall, Chase cast doubt on a shift to democratic government in Iran and a major change in the country’s political outlook.
“There’s certainly not any hope of political changes in Iran, as a result of these attacks short of picking a new supreme leader,” Chase said. “I don’t know what there is to celebrate.”

The Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is dead, President Donald Trump confirmed Saturday.
The president made the announcement from his Palm Beach estate via a Truth Social post, which described the now deceased leader as “one of the most evil people in history.”
“This is not only justice for the people of Iran, but for all Great Americans, and those people from many countries throughout the world, that have been killed or mutilated by Khamenei and his gang of bloodthirsty THUGS,” Trump wrote. “He was unable to avoid our intelligence and highly sophisticated tracking systems and, working closely with Israel, there was not a thing he, or the other leader could do.”
The president continued by echoing earlier statements shortly after announcing the strikes, urging the Iranian people to rise against the Islamic Revolutionary Guard.
“This is the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their country. We are hearing that many of their IRGC, military, and other security and police forces, no longer want to fight, and are looking for immunity from us. As I said last night, ‘now they can have immunity, later they only get death!’ Hopefully, the IRGC and police will peacefully merge with the Iranian patriots, and work together as a unit to bring back the country to the greatness it deserves.”
Trump said the process for Iranians to take back their country “should soon be starting.” He said that “heavy and pinpoint bombing” will continue “uninterrupted throughout the week or, as long as necessary to achieve our objective of PEACE THROUGHOUT THE MIDDLE EAST AND, INDEED, THE WORLD!”
In an earlier televised address, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also encouraged the Iranian people to rise up, while announcing the death of Khamenei.
“Citizens of Iran…It is your time to unite and topple this regime,” said Netanyahu.
In response to the death of Khamenei, video from inside Tehran and around the world showed jubilant Iranians celebrating the death of their former leader. Hundreds of Iranians gathered outside the White House Saturday evening in celebration, while groups of protesters gathered to demonstrate against Operation Epic Fury, the name for the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran.

President Donald Trump Saturday afternoon Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been killed.
“Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead,” Trump wrote on social media.
Iran’s supreme leader was one of the targets of the U.S. and Israeli srikes inside Iran early Saturday.
“This is not only Justice for the people of Iran, but for all Great Americans, and those people from many Countries throughout the World, that have been killed or mutilated by Khamenei and his gang of bloodthirsty THUGS,” Trump continued. “He was unable to avoid our Intelligence and Highly Sophisticated Tracking Systems and, working closely with Israel, there was not a thing he, or the other leaders that have been killed along with him, could do. This is the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their Country.”
Trump further wrote that intelligence indicates that many in the Iranian military and police “no longer want to fight.”
“We are hearing that many of their IRGC, Military, and other Security and Police Forces, no longer want to fight, and are looking for Immunity from us. As I said last night, ‘Now they can have Immunity, later they only get Death!,’ Trump wrote. “Hopefully, the IRGC and Police will peacefully merge with the Iranian Patriots, and work together as a unit to bring back the Country to the Greatness it deserves. That process should soon be starting in that, not only the death of Khamenei but the Country has been, in only one day, very much destroyed and, even, obliterated. The heavy and pinpoint bombing, however, will continue, uninterrupted throughout the week or, as long as necessary to achieve our objective of PEACE THROUGHOUT THE MIDDLE EAST AND, INDEED, THE WORLD!”
Earlier in the day. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there were “signs” that the leader of the Islamic Republic was killed during airstrikes on Khamenei’s compound.
“There are many signs that Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei is no longer alive,” Netanyahu said during an address Saturday.
Since the strikes began, there has not been any communication from the supreme leader, Netanyahu said.

The FBI is on high alert following the U.S.-Israeli coordinated strikes on Iran overnight.
FBI Director Kash Patel said that the FBI is “fully engaged on the situation overseas,” and he has directed the bureau’s counterterrorism and intelligence teams “to be on high alert and mobilize security assets needed.”
Patel said the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force across the country is working to “address and disrupt any potential threats to the homeland.”
The announcement from the FBI comes as the U.S. Secret Service issued a statement saying that it is “actively monitoring the situation in Iran and remains in close coordination” with federal and local partners.
Other law enforcement agencies across the country, including the New York Police Department and the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, released similar statements.
“At this time, there are no known threats to D.C. We are prepared to increase our presence as needed,” according to a statement from MPD.
NYPD said it is also increasing patrols across the city in response to Operation Epic Fury.
“As is our protocol and out of an abundance of caution, we will be enhancing patrols to sensitive locations throughout the city, including diplomatic, cultural, religious and other relevant sites,” according to a NYPD post on X.