US Vice President JD Vance and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth have stated that the US is not seeking to topple the government in Iran via “regime change” and is not at war with the country, following the unprecedented surprise attack on three of Iran’s nuclear sites.
However, US President Donald Trump later appeared to contradict this stance, questioning the possibility of “regime change” in Iran. “It’s not politically correct to use the term, ‘Regime Change,’ but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!!” Trump wrote on his social media platform.
Vance emphasized that the US had successfully set back Iran’s nuclear programme and now hopes to pursue a diplomatic solution. “We do not want to protract this or build this out any more than it’s already been built out.
We want to end their nuclear programme,” Vance said, adding, “We want to talk to the Iranians about a long-term settlement here”. Hegseth claimed the series of US strikes against Iran “devastated” its nuclear programme, asserting that Washington was not seeking “regime change” in Tehran.
The US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities have sparked widespread condemnation, with Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warning of “everlasting” consequences. Araghchi said the US crossed “a very big red line” by attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities and strongly intimated a response was in gestation. During an address to a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Istanbul, Araghchi emphasized that the US strikes have blown up any possibility of diplomacy.
General Dan Caine, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, confirmed that B-2 bombers were launched from the US on Friday for an 18-hour flight to their targets for the “strike package”. “Operation Midnight Hammer” included several “deception and decoy” manoeuvres, and high-speed suppression fire was used to protect the B-2s. Caine said there’s no indication “any shots were fired” by Iranian defences, adding, “Iran’s fighters did not fly and it appears Iran’s missile systems did not see us”.
The US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told CBS there were no planned military operations against Iran at the moment. Meanwhile, Trump announced that the US forces struck three Iranian nuclear sites in a “very successful attack” overnight into Sunday. The head of Iran’s Red Crescent Society, Pir Hossein Kolivand, said there were no fatalities in the US strikes on the nuclear facilities, according to Iranian state television.