Sen Kennedy praises Trump’s resolve on Iran, says ‘world is safer today because of what he’s done’
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., praised President Donald Trump on Tuesday in a staunch defense of U.S. action aimed at dismantling Iran’s security apparatus and neutralizing threats.
“[Trump’s] got political will. He’s got oranges. And like him or dislike him, the world is safer today because of what he has done,” Kennedy said on “Hannity.”
“I don’t hate anyone, but I will shed no tears for the Ayatollah Khamenei. He won the coin toss, and he elected to receive. And boy, did he receive. May he rest in pieces. He died with the blood of millions of people under his fingernails.”
Kennedy said the president’s actions prevented war as Iran would have never stopped its pursuit of a nuclear weapon.
“Any fair-minded person has to conclude that if the religious zealots who are 10 exits past normal ever get a new nuclear warhead, they’re going to use it,” he said.
Kennedy’s comments come amid Operation Epic Fury, a sweeping U.S.-led military campaign targeting Iran’s security infrastructure and neutralizing what officials describe as imminent threats. More than 1,700 targets have been struck across Iran with dozens of Iranian leaders killed, according to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM).
TRUMP EXPLORING BACKING MILITIAS IN IRAN TO TOPPLE WEAKENED REGIME FOLLOWING STRIKES: REPORTS
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While the senator said he understood those who disagreed with the military action, he warned that information disseminated in a classified briefing might change critics’ minds.
“If they could have heard what I heard in a classified briefing today from General Caine, from Secretary Rubio, Secretary Hegseth, Director Ratcliffe, in the bowels beneath the Senate in our secure room, they would conclude what I have concluded. I don’t know how this will end, but we had to do it. We had to do it, and I thank Donald Trump for doing that.”
US submarine sinks Iranian warship by torpedo in a first since World War II
A U.S. submarine sank a prized Iranian warship by torpedo, the first such sinking of an enemy ship since World War II, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said Wednesday morning.
Hegseth joined Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine at the Pentagon to provide an update to reporters on “Operation Epic Fury” in Iran.
“An American submarine sunk an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters,” Hegseth said. “Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo. Quiet death. The first sinking of an enemy ship by a torpedo since World War Two. Like in that war, back when we were still the War Department. We are fighting to win.”
Caine said that an Iranian vessel was “effectively neutralized” in a Navy “fast attack” using a single Mark 48 torpedo. He added that the U.S. Navy achieved “immediate effect, sending the warship to the bottom of the sea.”
WATCH HEGSETH’S ANNOUNCEMENT:
Hegseth said that the U.S. Navy sank the Iranian warship, the Soleimani. The flagship was named for Qasem Soleimani, an Iranian military officer who served in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps who the U.S. killed in a January 2020 drone strike during President Donald Trump’s first term.
“The Iranian Navy rests at the bottom of the Persian Gulf. Combat ineffective, decimated, destroyed, defeated. Pick your adjective,” Hegseth said. “In fact, last night we sunk their prize ship, the Soleimani. Looks like POTUS got him twice. Their navy, not a factor. Pick your adjective. It is no more.”
Hegseth also told reporters at the briefing that the U.S. and Israel will soon achieve “complete control” over Iranian airspace after Iran’s missile capabilities were drastically diminished in the four days of fighting.
US ‘WINNING DECISIVELY’ AGAINST IRAN, WILL ACHIEVE ‘COMPLETE CONTROL’ OF AIRSPACE WITHIN DAYS, HEGSETH SAYS
“More bombers and more fighters are arriving just today and now, with complete control of the skies, we will be using 500 pound, one thousand pound and 2,000 pound laser-guided precision gravity bombs, of which we have a nearly unlimited stockpile,” he said.
The war has killed more than 1,000 people in Iran and dozens in Lebanon, while U.S. officials said six American troops were killed in a fatal drone strike in Kuwait.
Thousands of travelers have been left stranded across the Middle East.
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Caine told reporters that the U.S. military is helping thousands of Americans stranded in the Middle East after the U.S. State Department urged citizens to leave more than a dozen countries.
Pentagon honors American troops killed in Operation Epic Fury: ‘Never be forgotten’
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine shared the names of four of the six fallen U.S. service members killed in Kuwait while supporting Operation Epic Fury.
“It is with profound sadness and gratitude that I share the names of four of the six fallen heroes, all from the 103rd Sustainment Command, U.S. Army Reserves, out of Des Moines, Iowa,” Caine said during a press conference Wednesday morning from the Pentagon, alongside Department of War Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Caine named several of the fallen American heroes.
“Capt. Cody Khork, Sgt. 1st Class Noah Tietjens, Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor and Sgt. Declan Coady,” Caine said.
Khork, 35, was from Lakeland, Florida; Amor, 39, was from White Bear Lake, Minnesota; Tietjens, 42, was from Bellevue, Nebraska; and Coady, 20, was from Des Moines.
“To the families of our fallen, we grieve with you today and we look forward to welcoming your family members home at Dover in the coming days,” he continued.
Two additional soldiers killed in the attack have not yet been publicly identified.
“Out of respect for the other families, we will withhold the release of their names until next of kin notification is complete, and either myself or Adm. Cooper will release those names as soon as we can ensure that all of those families have been properly notified,” he said.
“To our Gold Star families, to our wounded warriors and their loved ones — we will never forget your sacrifice,” Caine continued. “Our nation stands with you and we are eternally grateful for your courage, your resiliency, your devotion to this mission and to our nation.”
The Department of War on Monday identified four of the six U.S. Army Reserve soldiers killed in a March 1 drone attack in Kuwait while supporting Operation Epic Fury, and officials said the incident remains under investigation.
US STRIKES MORE THAN 1,700 TARGETS IN IRAN DURING FIRST 72 HOURS OF OPERATION EPIC FURY
The soldiers were killed at the Port of Shuaiba during what officials described as an unmanned aircraft system attack. All were assigned to the 103rd Sustainment Command in Des Moines, Iowa, which provides logistical and operational support to U.S. forces overseas.
Lt. Gen. Robert Harter, chief of Army Reserve and commanding general of U.S. Army Reserve Command, said the loss is deeply felt across the force.
“We honor our fallen heroes who served fearlessly and selflessly in defense of our nation,” Harter said. “Their sacrifice, and the sacrifices of their families, will never be forgotten.”
Officials said the soldiers were supporting operations in the region when the drone strike occurred.
Khork enlisted in the National Guard in 2009 as a multiple launch rocket system/fire direction specialist before commissioning as a military police officer in the Army Reserve in 2014. He went on to deploy to Saudi Arabia, Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and Poland.
Amor joined the National Guard in 2005 as an automated logistics specialist. She transferred to the Army Reserve the following year, and went on to deploy to Kuwait and Iraq in 2019. She earned multiple commendations, including the Army Commendation Medal and the Armed Forces Reserve Medal with “M” Device.
Tietjens entered the Army Reserve in 2006 as a wheeled vehicle mechanic and completed two deployments to Kuwait since 2009 and 2019. He was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal, Army Achievement Medal and the Iraq Campaign Medal with Campaign Star across his career.
The youngest of the four identified soldiers, Coady enlisted in the Army Reserve in 2023 as an Army information technology specialist. He was posthumously promoted from specialist to sergeant and awarded the National Defense Service Medal and the Overseas Service Ribbon.
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Israel hammers Iranian internal security command centers to open door to uprising
The Israeli military’s latest wave of airstrikes in Iran dealt a serious blow to the country’s brutal internal security apparatus, opening the door for a potential uprising.
During the strikes, Israel “dropped dozens of munitions on the Basij and internal security command centers that are subject to the Iranian terror regime,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement on Wednesday. “The targeted command centers were used by the Iranian regime to maintain control throughout Iran and maintain the regime’s situational assessments.”
Since the start of Operation Epic Fury, the U.S. has hit nearly 2,000 targets as it carries out a sweeping military campaign aimed at dismantling the regime’s security apparatus and neutralizing threats. Adm. Brad Cooper of U.S. Central Command confirmed the number of targets hit in a video message.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Basij militia, Iran’s volunteer paramilitary force, were behind the violent crackdown on protesters in January. The bloody crackdown saw regime actors firing on crowds and conducting mass arrests of Iranian protesters. Some had seen the protests as a sign that regime change in Iran was getting nearer, though it did not occur.
Israeli and U.S. officials have hinted at the possibility of regime change in Iran as both countries take aim at Tehran’s military and security sites.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video message announcing the launch of Operation Epic Fury, which Israel calls Operation Rising Lion, that it was time for Iranians “to rid themselves of the yoke of tyranny.” Similarly, President Donald Trump said in a message to the Iranian people on Feb. 28 that “the hour of your freedom is at hand.”
“When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will be, probably, your only chance for generations,” Trump said.
ISRAELI MINISTER OUTLINES IRAN MISSION GOALS, SAYS IRANIAN PEOPLE NOW HAVE CHANCE TO ‘REGAIN THEIR FREEDOM’
“America is backing you with overwhelming strength and devastating force. Now is the time to seize control of your destiny, and to unleash the prosperous and glorious future that is close within your reach. This is the moment for action. Do not let it pass,” the president added.
Ali Vaez, director of the Iran project at the International Crisis Group, told The Wall Street Journal that the path to regime change through foreign airstrikes and popular uprising on the ground has “a bet that rests on no clear historical model.” Vaez also warned that the idea “ignores the resilience of entrenched authoritarian systems like the Islamic Republic.”
The IDF said on Monday that Israel had hit headquarters, bases and regional command centers that belonged to the regime’s internal security apparatus.
“These bodies were responsible for, among other things, suppressing protests against the regime through violent measures and civilian arrests,” the IDF said.
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It is unclear who will lead Iran after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed on the first day of the operation. Since then, Israel and the U.S. have made it clear that regime leaders chosen to replace him would be targets. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned on Wednesday that anyone chosen to replace Khamenei would be considered “a target for elimination” if they continued to threaten Israel, the U.S. and regional allies.
The killing of key leaders might not be enough to cause an uprising, as the regime has a monopoly on weapons in most of Iran, the WSJ reported, adding that Basij militants are still patrolling the streets.
Hegseth says the leader behind effort to assassinate Trump has been ‘hunted down and killed’ in Iran
War Secretary Pete Hegseth said Wednesday that an Iranian leader behind a unit that attempted to assassinate President Trump has been killed in Iran amid Operation Epic Fury.
“The leader of the unit that attempted to assassinate Trump has been hunted down and killed,” Hegseth said during a press conference Wednesday morning.
“Iran tried to kill President Trump and President Trump got the last laugh,” Hegseth continued. “Now, this is not a ‘mission accomplished’ situation. This is simply a reality check.”
In 2024, Iran-linked actors attempted to arrange an assassination plot to take out the president. Iran has previously threatened to assassinate Trump following the 2020 killing of Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani.
In 2022, an Iranian video depicted an assassination attempt on Trump while he played golf.
U.S. officials confirmed earlier this week that strikes on Iran, which began Saturday, killed Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Trump reflected on Khamenei’s death in a call to ABC News’ Jonathan Karl earlier this week, saying: “I got him before he got me.”
“They tried twice,” Trump continued, referring to Iran’s previous attempts on his life. “Well, I got him first.”
TRUMP SAYS US SANK 10 SHIPS IN IRAN STRIKE, ‘LAST, BEST CHANCE’ TO ACT
Meanwhile, Hegseth, on Wednesday said the combination of U.S. and Israeli intelligence and combat power “will control Iran and will control it soon.”
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“America is winning decisively, devastatingly and without mercy,” Hegseth said.