Iran and Israel have traded air and missile strikes as the world braces for Tehran’s response to the US attack on its nuclear sites, and US President Donald Trump raised the idea of regime change in the Islamic republic, Reuters reports.
Commercial satellite imagery indicated the US attack on Iran’s subterranean Fordow nuclear plant severely damaged or destroyed the deeply buried site and the uranium-enriching centrifuges it housed, but the status of the site remained unconfirmed, experts said.
Iran’s parliament has approved a move to close the strait, which Iran shares with Oman and the United Arab Emirates. Iran’s Press TV said closing the strait would require approval from the Supreme National Security Council, a body led by an appointee of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Caine said the US military had increased protection of troops in the region, including in Iraq and Syria. The US State Department issued a security alert for all US citizens abroad, calling on them to “exercise increased caution.”
The United States already has a sizeable force in the Middle East, with nearly 40,000 troops and warships that can shoot down enemy missiles.
The Israeli military reported a missile launch from Iran in the early hours of Monday morning, saying it was intercepted by Israeli defences.
