LIVE UPDATES: Rubio Warns That the ‘Hardest Hits’ on Iran Are Yet to Come

As the war in the Middle East widens further, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that the United States has “ the capability to go far longer ” than its projected four to five week time frame for its military operations against Iran.

The comment, made during a Medal of Honor ceremony, comes as the United States and Israel have continued pounding Iran since killing its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday.

Tehran and its allies have hit back against Israel, neighboring Gulf states, and targets critical to the world’s production of oil and natural gas.

At least 555 people have been killed in Iran so far by the U.S.-Israeli campaign, the Iranian Red Crescent Society said, and more than 130 cities across the country have come under attack. In Israel, 11 people have been killed, with 31 in Lebanon, according to authorities.

The drones struck on the first night of the Iran war the Al Minhad Air Base, which is a logistics hub for Australia’s Middle East operations near Dubai, Marles said on Tuesday.

“We have a number of Australians who operate from a headquarters that we’ve had at Al Minhad now for many, many years,” Marles told Seven Network television.

"This is not an endless war, this is the gateway to peace" Netanyahu said on Fox News' "Hannity" program.

Netanyahu said it is up to the people of Iran to "change the government", after the targeted killing of Khamenei in the opening hours of the campaign over the weekend.

He added that Israel and the United States were "creating the conditions for them to do so."

Republican Speaker Mike Johnson described the U.S. attack as a “defensive operation” because he said Israel was determined to act on their own against Iran, “with or without American support.”

Johnson said Trump had a “very difficult decision” to make, and determined that Iran would immediately retaliate against U.S. personnel and assets.

But Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, said “there was no imminent threat to the United States of America by the Iranians. There was a threat to Israel.”

Rubio, Hegseth, and others briefed the lawmakers, but Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said he found their answers “completely and totally insufficient.”

The drone attack came amid ongoing Iranian missile and drone strikes on Gulf states that host U.S. bases, following U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran on Saturday.

Black smoke was seen rising over Riyadh's Diplomatic Quarter, which houses foreign missions.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Mora Namdar posted on the social media site X that Americans in countries, including Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Israel, should “DEPART NOW” using any available commercial transportation.

“I’m not going to give away the details of our tactical efforts, but the hardest hits are yet to come from the U.S. military,” Rubio told reporters before briefing senior members of Congress on the conflict.

“We always have people that reach out from inside of governments,” he said. “You don’t know if they’re authorized to reach out or not. They’re suffering a tremendous amount of damage.”

Rubio made the remarks ahead of a Gang of Eight briefing Monday.

He said these objectives can be achieved without American boots on the ground in Iran.

“Right now, we’re not postured for ground forces, but obviously, the president has those options,” Rubio said. “He’s never going to rule out anything.”

“We knew that going in [that] would be a factor, and so we have a program in place that will begin to be implemented by Secretary [of Energy Chris] Wright, [Treasury] Secretary [Scott] Bessent,” Rubio told reporters Monday ahead of a briefing to congressional leaders.

The comment came in response to a question about an Iranian state media report that at least 40 people were killed in a strike on a school in Iran on Saturday.

Rubio, who referred the question to the Pentagon, said the United States’ objectives are “missiles, both the ability to manufacture them and the ability to launch them,” as well as Iran’s one-way attract drones.

“The imminent threat was that we knew that if Iran was attacked, and we believed they would be attacked, that they would immediately come after us, and we were not going to sit there and absorb a blow before we responded,” Rubio said.

He made the remarks ahead of a briefing to senior members of Congress.

Rubio said if the United States waited to be attacked by Iran, the United States “would suffer more casualties and more deaths.”

“We went proactively in a defensive way to prevent them from inflicting higher damage,” he said.

U.S. Central Command stated in a post on X that U.S. forces “recently recovered the remains of two previously unaccounted for service members from a facility that was struck during Iran’s initial attacks in the region.”

This is Iran's most explicit warning since telling ships it was closing the export route on Saturday, a move that threatens to choke a fifth of global oil flows and send crude prices sharply higher.

"The strait [of Hormuz] is closed. If anyone tries to pass, the heroes of the Revolutionary Guards and the regular navy will set those ships ablaze," Ebrahim Jabari, a senior adviser to the Guards commander-in-chief, said in remarks carried by state media.

He then said he wouldn’t get “bored” of continuing the operation over such time. “I don’t get bored. There’s nothing boring about this.”

The president said during a Medal of Honor ceremony today that U.S. forces are out to destroy Iran's missile capabilities, wipe out its naval capacity, stop the country from obtaining a nuclear weapon, and “ensuring that the Iranian regime cannot continue to arm, fund, and direct armies outside of their borders.”

He said U.S. attacks have already “knocked out” 10 ships, and that attacks on Iran’s missile capacity are ensuring they are destroyed while stopping “their capacity to produce brand new ones.”

"This was our last, best chance to strike–what we're doing right now–and eliminate the intolerable threats posed by this sick and sinister regime," Trump said.

The president said Iran ignored US warnings and “refused to cease their pursuit of nuclear weapons.”

"The purpose of this fast-growing missile program was to shield their nuclear weapon development and make it extraordinarily difficult for anyone to stop them from making these highly forbidden by us nuclear weapons," Trump said.

Speaking to the House of Commons, Starmer said that the government was focused on looking ‘’at all options to support our people.’’

“We want to ensure that they can return home as swiftly and safely as possible, for their lives are on the line.’’

“This is not a so-called regime change war, but the regime sure did change and the world is better off for it,” Hegseth said.

He also maintained that Washington was not responsible for starting the conflict, accusing Iran of waging a decades-long campaign of attacks against the United States.

The deployment already includes thousands of service members from all branches, including Reserve and National Guard forces; hundreds of advanced fighters; dozens of refueling tankers; the Lincoln and Ford Carrier Strike Group and their embarked air wings.

“The Joint Force has launched hundreds of missions over land and sea,” Cooper said.

The soldier was wounded during the initial stage of Operation Epic Fury and died on Monday, it said.

A total of four U.S. soldiers have been killed since Israel and the U.S. launched strikes against Iran on Saturday.

“This is not a single, overnight operation,” Caine said at the Pentagon on Monday. “The military objectives that CENTCOM and the Joint Force have been tasked with will take some time to achieve, and in some cases, will be difficult and gritty work.”

All six crew members ejected from the aircraft safely, were recovered, and are in stable condition, CENTCOM said.

"During active combat - that included attacks from Iranian aircraft, ballistic missiles, and drones - the U.S. Air Force fighter jets were mistakenly shot down by Kuwaiti air defenses," CENTCOM said.

The state-run Oman News Agency said the attack occurred in the Gulf of Oman off Muscat, the sultanate’s capital. It identified the vessel as the MKD VYOM. It said the dead crew member was from India.

Iran has been threatening vessels approaching the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf.