00:00The U.S. and Israeli air war against Iran widened on Monday as Israel attacked Lebanon in response to strikes
00:08by Hezbollah.
00:10And Iran kept up its missile and drone attacks on Gulf states.
00:14There was no end in sight to the conflict after a weekend of bombing that killed Iran's supreme leader and
00:21retaliatory strikes across the region.
00:23Video on Monday showed an American fighter jet spiraling out of the sky, one of the three that Kuwait mistakenly
00:30shot down during an Iranian attack.
00:33U.S. Central Command said all six crew members ejected and were safely recovered.
00:39We're already substantially ahead of our time projections.
00:45U.S. President Donald Trump said the operation in the Middle East was ahead of schedule at a Medal of
00:51Honor ceremony.
00:53Trump told an audience in the East Room of the White House that he ordered the strikes because the threat
00:58from Iran had been imminent without providing evidence.
01:02An Iranian regime armed with long-range missiles and nuclear weapons would be an intolerable threat to the Middle East,
01:10but also to the American people.
01:13Our country itself would be under threat, and it was very nearly under threat.
01:19The objectives of the war, Trump said, included destroying Iran's missile capabilities, annihilating their navy, and stopping them from having
01:29a nuclear weapon.
01:30Iran denies seeking a nuclear weapon.
01:33This is not Iraq.
01:35U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth insisted the strikes on Iran would not lead to an endless war.
01:42But on Monday, a new front in the war opened when the Lebanese Hezbollah militia, one of Iran's principal allies
01:49in the Middle East, launched missiles and drones toward Israel.
01:54Israel responded with sweeping airstrikes, which it said targeted the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs of Beirut.
02:01Lebanese officials said dozens of people died, and more than 150 people were wounded.
02:08Meanwhile, an Iranian missile hit a British Air Force base in Cyprus, the first strike to reach U.S. allies
02:14in Europe.
02:15Gayib Dalai, an analyst at the London-based think tank Chatham House, said Iran is pursuing a strategy of calibrated
02:23escalation.
02:24Well, it is already becoming quite widespread, and I think this is precisely the strategy that Iran thinks that is
02:32the only strategy that it can put enough pressure on Trump, particularly, to change the course of the action.
02:41Because right now, the only person that can call off this war or end the war is a Trump.
02:48For Trump, who is facing growing discontent at home over bread-and-butter economic issues, the strikes against Iran amount
02:55to the biggest U.S. foreign policy gamble in decades.
02:59In an interview on CNN, Trump said the, quote, big wave is yet to come in the war with Iran,
03:05without giving details, and said it was unclear who Iran's new leader would be.
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