THE LATEST: U.S. expects to control airspace soon; Israel launches more strikes on Tehran
· Toronto Sun
U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed a U.S. submarine sank an Iranian warship off the coast of Sri Lanka on Wednesday, marking the first U.S. attack on Iranian forces outside of the Middle East.
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Days after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran in a war that has widened throughout the region, Hegseth told reporters at the Pentagon that the U.S. is “accelerating, not decelerating,” its war.
At the press briefing on Wednesday, Hegseth declared “America is winning decisively, devastatingly and without mercy.” He said the U.S. can continue the military action against Iran “for as long as we need to,” adding Iran “can no longer shoot the volume of missiles they once did.”
Hegseth also suggested that the U.S. and Israel “will have complete control of Iranian skies” in under a week.
A torpedo sank the warship, which was in international waters in the Indian Ocean, Hegseth said. The Sri Lankan navy recovered the bodies of 87 sailors from waters near the southern city of Galle, but 61 remained missing, police and defence officials said.
Iran had not yet commented on the sinking.
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More airstrikes on Iran
Meanwhile, U.S. and Israeli airstrikes against Iran continued on Wednesday with the Israeli military announcing a “broad wave of strikes” against Tehran’s “military infrastructure.
“We hit the regime with much force and we do not intend to stop for one moment. We’re striking its most sensitive and significant targets and we have been undermining its stability,” Israeli Defence Forces spokesperson Effie Defrin said at a news conference.
Iranian state media said the number of people killed in five days of the U.S.-Israeli attacks has topped 1,000.
Iran, mwanwhile, continued its barrage on other Gulf states, firing at Bahrain, Kuwait and Israel.
Turkey said an Iranian missile was shot down before it entered the country’s airspace, marking the first time a NATO member had been targeted.
Ali Khamenei’s funeral postponed
The intensity of the strikes has forced Iranian officials to postpone the funeral of its late supreme leader ayatollah Ali Khamenei .
The three-day funeral was set to begin Wednesday, but an official told state TV that it has been delayed due to logistical issues, including requests from people in different provinces to attend the ceremony.
No date for when the ceremony will take place has been announced.
Israel targets Lebanon
Elsewhere, Israel’s military had warned residents of dozens of border villages in southern Lebanon to evacuate “immediately” Wednesday as airstrikes on the suburbs of Beirut intensified.
The IDF told residents living south of the Litani River in Lebanon to move north immediately as the military was targeting Hezbollah operatives and facilities in the area.
“Any building or home utilized by Hezbollah for military purposes is a legitimate target and may be engaged,” it said in a statement.
The order came after airstrikes overnight struck a hotel in Hazmieh, a suburb of Beirut. Others strikes hit the towns of Aramoun and Saadiyat, just south of Beirut, killing six and wounding eight, The Associated Press reported.
Another strike hit the eastern city of Baalbek, killing six people and wounding 15, according to state media.
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Iran close to selecting next supreme leader
Clerics in Iran said they were close to choosing a successor to Khamenei , according to state media.
It has been widely suggested that his second son, Mojtaba Khamenei, could replace him. Some reports say that has already happened.
He has not been seen publicly since Saturday, when an Israeli airstrike targeting the supreme leader’s offices killed his 86-year-old father, The Associated Press reported.
Though Mojtaba has long been considered a potential candidate, he has never been elected or appointed to a government position.
— With files from The Associated Press, AFP.