US sinks Iranian warship, Hegseth says, as Iran tensions escalate – National
The US has sunk an Iranian warship in international waters, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Wednesday, as it stepped up its attacks on Israel’s Iranian security forces and other signs of power. Tehran vowed to destroy the Middle East’s military and economic infrastructure – indicating that war was not imminent and could escalate further.
The situation in Iran’s strikes was so intense that state television announced that the mourning ceremony for Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the conflict, would be postponed. Millions attended the funeral of his predecessor Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989.
In addition to hitting Tehran on the fifth day of the conflict, Israel attacked the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorist group in Lebanon, and Iran fired at Bahrain, Kuwait and Israel. As the conflict escalated, Turkey said NATO defense intercepted a ballistic missile launched from Iran before it entered Turkish airspace.
The war has killed more than 1,000 people in Iran and dozens in Lebanon, while disrupting the world’s oil and gas supplies, crippling international shipping, and leaving hundreds of thousands stranded in the Middle East.
Both sides are relentless in their attacks
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said a torpedo from a US submarine sank an Iranian warship. He did not name the ship, but earlier an Iranian warship sunk off the coast of Sri Lanka.
At a Pentagon briefing, Hegseth said Tuesday night’s strike on an Iranian warship was the first such attack by an enemy since World War II.
“An American submarine sank an Iranian warship that it thought was safe in international waters,” Hegseth said. “Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo.”
Sri Lankan authorities said 32 people were rescued from the Iranian ship and the others died.
Israel said it had struck buildings linked to Iran’s Basij, the Revolutionary Guard volunteer force that killed thousands of protesters in January and saw tens of thousands imprisoned in the country.
Israel’s military also said it struck buildings linked to Iran’s internal security command, which has also cracked down on protests in the past. It also hit cities near Beirut.
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Israel and the US have said they want to see the Iranian public overthrow the country’s regime, and strikes against opposition forces may be part of that effort.
Iranian state television showed the ruins of buildings in the center of the capital Tehran, with interviewees saying the attack had destroyed their homes. Strikes were also reported in the Shiite clerical city of Qom, targeting a building associated with a delegation of clerics who will elect Iran’s next supreme leader. Iranian media said it was empty at the time.
State TV has begun calling the conflict the “Ramadan war,” a reference to the current Muslim fasting month. But that name also suggested that the leaders were trying to prepare the community for a long conflict.
Adm. Brad Cooper, the top US military commander in the Middle East, echoed that sentiment, saying: “We’re just getting started.”
Cooper said the US military damaged Iran’s air defenses and took out missiles, explosives and drones. Israeli military spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said such damage has caused a drop in the launch from Iran.
Still, explosions were heard in the sky over Jerusalem on Wednesday, and the Israeli military said Iran fired missiles at the country, and Hezbollah fired rockets.
Iran has also attacked the region, air sirens sounded Wednesday morning across Bahrain, home of the US Navy’s 5th Fleet.
About 1,045 people have been killed in Iran, said the Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs in that country on Wednesday. In Israel, 11 people were killed. More than 50 people have been killed in Lebanon, according to the Ministry of Health. Six US soldiers were killed.
The people of Tehran are not sure what to do
A resident of Tehran, who owns a clothing store, said he did not know how to protect himself from the bombing.
“It is very difficult to decide what to do. If I leave the city, how should I get money to live?” said the man who did not want his name to be revealed because he was afraid of retaliation.
Power supplies in crosshairs
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has issued its most serious threat yet.
“The United States’ continued evil and deception in the region will come at the cost of the complete destruction of the region’s military and economic infrastructure,” said a statement on Iranian state television.
As the Iranian attack disrupted tanker traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which about a fifth of the world’s oil is shipped, Brent crude prices hit US$84 a barrel, up more than 15 percent since the conflict began and at their highest price since July 2024.
Global stock markets have been rocked by concerns that rising oil prices could slow the global economy and erode corporate profits.
Iran’s clerics elect a new supreme leader
Iran’s leaders are trying to replace Khamenei, who ruled the country for 37 years, and was killed on the first day of the strikes.
It is only the second time since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that a new supreme leader has been elected.
Potential candidates range from hardliners committed to confronting the West to reformers who want to work with the elite. Mojtaba Khamenei, Khamenei’s son, has long been considered among them – despite the fact that he has never been elected or elected to government office.
In a sign that Iran’s leadership will seek to consolidate its power as it faces its biggest crisis in decades, the justice chief warned on Wednesday that “those who cooperate with the enemy in any way will be considered enemies.”
Meanwhile, Israel’s defense minister has threatened whoever Iran chooses to be the country’s next leader.
“Every leader appointed by the terrorist regime of Iran to continue and lead the plan to destroy Israel, terrorize the United States and the free world and neighboring countries, and oppress the Iranian people – will be targeted for elimination,” wrote Israel Katz in X.
It is not clear how Washington will respond if a new leader in Khamenei’s style is elected. US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that “the worst crime would be to do this, and then there is someone who takes it as bad as before.”
