Trump Ready For Longer War, Vows Massive Attack On Iran

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump is recognizing three U.S. Army soldiers with the Medal of Honor at the White House on Monday, with two of the commendations being awarded posthumously.

Retired Command Sgt. Maj. Terry P. Richardson will be recognized for actions during the Vietnam War that were credited with saving the lives of 85 other service members.

Staff Sgt. Michael H. Ollis, who was killed in action in Afghanistan in 2013, is being recognized for valor during the combat that resulted in his death.

Master Sgt. Roderick W. Edmonds, who died in 1985, is being recognized for his leadership and resistance as a prisoner of war in Germany during World War II.

The Medal of Honor is given by U.S. presidents, in the name of Congress, to recognize combat service that goes beyond the call of duty and risks one's own life.

What to know:

- In a brief phone interview with the New York Post, the president said he wasn’t ruling out U.S. forces in Iran if “they were necessary.” “I don’t have the yips with respect to boots on the ground. Like, every president says, ‘There will be no boots on the ground.’ I don’t say it,” Trump told the newspaper. “I say, ‘Probably don’t need them,’ (or) ‘if they were necessary.’” Trump has said since the start of U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran that American military casualties were likely, as they are in any war, but he hasn’t committed to having U.S. forces on the ground long term. Before the strikes began, Vice President JD Vance told The Washington Post that there was “no chance” the U.S. would be pulled into a drawn out war in the Middle East.

- The wife of Iran's slain supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei died Monday after succumbing to wounds sustained during the US-Israeli attack, Iranian media reported. Mansoureh Khojasteh Bagherzadeh, 79, had been in a coma since strikes on Saturday killed Khamenei, the Tasnim news agency said.

- Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Monday their missile attacks have targeted the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the headquarters of the Israeli air force commander. "The office of the criminal prime minister of the Zionist regime and the headquarters of the regime's air force commander were targeted," the Guards said in a statement carried by Fars news agency. It said Kheibar missiles were used in the attack.

- The war in the Middle East expanded on multiple fronts Monday, with attacks from Iran and Iranian-backed militias hitting Israel and Arab states. A senior Iranian official signaled that there would be no negotiations with the United States, and the Iranian Red Crescent Society said at least 555 people have been killed so far in the Islamic Republic.

- Strikes by Israel and the United States were happening in Iran, and Israeli forces were hitting targets in southern Lebanon where at least 31 were killed, in a war that began with the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei . A strike in Iran on Monday apparently took Iranian state television off air.

- Trump says more US service members ‘will likely’ be killed: Trump said the U.S. would “avenge” the deaths of three service members before adding: “Sadly, there will likely be more, before it ends.”

- Iran’s foreign minister says Islamic Republic spent 2 decades studying US military: Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the Islamic Republic had spent “two decades” studying U.S. military operations in the region and has since “incorporated lessons accordingly.” “Bombings in our capital have no impact on our ability to conduct war,” Araghchi said on X.

- CIA tracked the movements of senior Iranian leaders for months: That’s according to a person familiar with the operation who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke Sunday on condition of anonymity. The intelligence was shared with Israeli officials, and the timing of this weekend’s strikes was adjusted in part because of that information, the person said.