As Democrats line up to denounce President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s joint strikes on Iran’s ruling regime, Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., is doing the opposite, forcefully defending the operation and rebuking members of his own party who call it reckless.

The Pennsylvania Democrat, who has increasingly staked out unapologetic pro-Israel positions, has openly questioned why critics from both the far-right and far-left are making hay over the strikes, arguing the operation was necessary to counter Tehran’s aggression. His stance is widening a visible fracture inside the party over how far to back Israel amid escalating regional tensions.

On Monday, Fetterman wrote that he’s ‘not sure why it’s controversial to anyone to appreciate and celebrate wiping out 49 leaders of one of the most evil regimes in recorded history,’ after Trump announced the potentially four-week mission was ahead of schedule after discovering several top Iranian officials being targeted were reportedly in the same area and could be taken out at once.

After the initial strike on Saturday, Fetterman reposted an image from the ‘Israel War Room’ that showed a Wanted-style poster of Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei with the word ‘Eliminated’ burned across it.

‘Let’s see who grieves for that garbage,’ Fetterman captioned.

The former Pennsylvania lieutenant governor later credited Trump, saying in a statement that he ‘has been willing to do what’s right and necessary to produce real peace in the region.’

‘God bless the United States, our great military, and Israel.’

He also openly questioned members of his own caucus, who have otherwise agreed that Iran cannot be permitted to nuclearize.

‘Every member in the U.S. Senate agrees we cannot allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon,’ he wrote on X.

‘I’m baffled why so many are unwilling to support the only action to achieve that. Empty sloganeering vs. commitment to global security — which is it?’

He said Saturday he would be a ‘hard no’ if Democrats forced a war powers resolution vote to claw back Trump’s authority.

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., told Richmond press on Monday that he intends to press for a vote on a War Powers Resolution he filed in January focused on Iran.

Kaine wondered aloud in a separate public statement whether Trump is ‘too mentally incapacitated to realize we had a diplomatic agreement with Iran…’

‘The Senate should immediately return to session and vote on my War Powers Resolution to block the use of U.S. forces in hostilities against Iran. Every single Senator needs to go on the record about this dangerous, unnecessary, and idiotic action,’ Kaine said.

Fetterman was not the only Democrat to sound off on critics of the Iran strike. Former New York Mayor Eric Adams, who is also a former NYPD officer, lambasted what he called the political fringes for ignoring the human rights abuses, mass murder and attacks on Americans committed by Khamenei, 86, and his predecessor, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

Rep. Gregory Landsman, D-Ohio, also praised the operation against Iran and compared the killing of Khamenei to taking out Usama bin Laden, but stopped short of endorsing Trump’s broader plans.

‘There’s a lot of folks in Congress who don’t trust this president and I’m one of those people. In the end I trust the generals and I trust our military,’ he told the Cincinnati Enquirer.

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The Islamic Republic’s opaque and fractured governing system following the killing of its supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, selected radical cleric Ayatollah Alireza Arafi to its interim leadership council on Saturday.

Ben Sabti, an Iran expert at the Institute of National Security Studies in Israel, said, ‘His name was brought up in the last two or three years. He is not a kind of politician but is part of exporting the revolution from the propaganda side.’ A foundational pillar of the birth of the 1979 Islamic Republic was to export its violent Shiite ideology and foster radical Islamist revolutions across the globe.

‘He’s been marinating in Khomeinist ideology his entire career. Khomeinism is a threat to U.S. interests,’ Jason Brodsky, policy director of United Against Nuclear Iran, told Fox News Digital.

The founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1979, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s ‘Death to America’ pledge is a core feature of Khomeinism, according to experts.

According to a UANI report, Arafi has long been agitating against the U.S. and Israel. ‘America will take its wish for Iran to abandon production of military hardware to the grave,’ he is quoted as saying, and in a 2019 Friday prayer sermon he announced, ‘We will stay with our imam and leader to the end, when we humiliate [global] arrogance. Together with the Sayyed of the resistance, we say: Oh great leader of the world of Islam, we will be with you until the end, when the arrogant people in the world are defeated, and Israel is erased.’

Brodsky continued, ‘The fact that Iran’s system elevated Alireza Arafi to membership on the interim leadership council is a signal that he could be a leading candidate to replace Ali Khamenei as supreme leader. 

Arafi is also being watched in Washington. In an interview with Fox News Digital on Sunday, Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, described Arafi as ”a very hard-line cleric.’

He noted, ‘Arafi has been promoted through the ranks — heading Iran’s seminary, leading Al-Mustafa University, and serving as a member of the Guardian Council and Assembly of Experts. Additionally, he has been Friday prayer leader of Qom, which is the center of the Iranian clergy. This provides him with religious, educational and government experience to replace Khamenei as supreme leader.’

According to UANI, Arafi promised ‘death’ to protesters who knock over the turbans of Iranian Islamic clerics. ‘Those who attack the turbans of the clergy should know that the turban will become their shroud,’ Arafi said.

Brodsky added, ‘Arafi helped make Al-Mustafa University into a training ground and recruiting center for the IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps]. Al-Mustafa University was later sanctioned by the U.S. government under counterterrorism authorities. A weakness in his candidacy to replace Khamenei is that he has never been a core member of the military-security establishment in Iran and has never led a branch of the Islamic Republic’s government apparatus.

‘He is also not a Sayyid. [sign of high respect for people of lineage from the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Shiite tradition.] But his serving on an interim leadership council will expose him to foreign policy and security issues to a greater extent, and position him as a formidable contender. Alireza Arafi is an indoctrinated follower of Khomeinism and spearheaded an effort to further Islamize Iran’s university and seminary system,’ he said.

According to Iran Wire, an independent Iranian diaspora news outlet, ‘Alireza Arafi is a prominent hardline cleric, a member of the Guardian Council and the head of Iran’s seminaries, positions that place him at the center of the country’s religious establishment. His selection matters because the third member of the Temporary Leadership Council must be a theologian chosen by the Expediency Discernment Council — and Arafi is widely seen as a staunch loyalist to the core ideology of the Islamic Republic.’

Mardo Soghom, a veteran journalist and Iran expert, told Fox News Digital, ‘What I can say at this point is that there is no unified government with sufficient control over the country. The foreign minister admits the IRGC is on its own. Arafi would never have the authority or the control Khamenei had. It is a compromise candidate whom the IRGC can control and is not a threat to two factions.’

Mariam Memarsadeghi, senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute and founder and director of the Cyrus Forum for Iran’s Future, told Fox News Digital, ‘The regime or what remains of it is no different from a terrorist group. Now that the U.S. and Israel are bombing the U.S. and Israel, every leader the terror group chooses will be rightly eliminated. The Iranian people are elated. All decent human beings who believe in freedom should be elated.’

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First lady Melania Trump presided over the United Nations Security Council meeting Monday, declaring that the United States ‘stands with all of the children throughout the world,’ in a historic speech calling for ‘peace through education,’ amid the U.S. military involvement in Iran.

The speech marked the first time a first lady from any country — and the first time a sitting U.S. first lady — presided over the Security Council as its members consider education, technology, peace and security.

The United States assumed the United Nations Security Council presidency Monday, just days after the U.S. and Israel launched a massive joint military operation against Iran over the weekend known as ‘Operation Epic Fury.’

The attacks left major leaders dead, including Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The joint military operation is expected to carry on for days, as the U.S. military continues to target military and ballistic missile sites that pose an ‘imminent threat.’

President Donald Trump warned over the weekend against Iranian retaliation, saying that if Iran were to ‘hit very hard,’ they would be met with ‘a force that has never been seen before.’

But the first lady’s appearance at the United Nations was scheduled before Operation Epic Fury began.

‘The U.S. stands with all of the children throughout the world,’ the first lady said Monday. ‘I hope soon — peace will be yours.’

The U.N. Security Council consists of 15 member states, with five permanent members: the United States, China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and 10 nonpermanent members elected for two-year terms, including Bahrain, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Greece, Latvia, Liberia, Pakistan, Panama and Somalia.

‘Collectively, your mission to maintain security while upholding the responsibility of preventing conflict during times of both war and peace is significant, must be applied evenly, and should never be carried out lightly,’ she said. ‘Peace does not need to be fragile.’

The first lady’s speech focused on education, saying that it ‘shapes the core of their country’s belief system.’

‘A nation that makes learning sacred protects its books, its language, its science, and its mathematics — it protects its future,’ she said. ‘This leads to something powerful — to greater understanding, moral reasoning, and tolerance of others. Peace.’

The first lady stressed that children raised in cultures rooted in intelligence ‘develop confidence, innovate, build, compete, and maintain a deep value system.’

‘Their knowledge fosters empathy for others, transcending geography, religion, race, gender, and even local norms,’ she said. ‘They become caring people.’

On the contrary, the first lady said that children raised in a culture ‘rooted in ignorance are surrounded by disorder, and sometimes even conflict.’

‘These societies are filled with rigid thinkers who embrace prejudice and shun human dignity,’ she said. ‘When a nation restricts thought, it restricts its own future.’

The first lady said education is a ‘fundamental human right,’ but added that ‘so many children and young adults are banned from attending secondary schools and universities.’

‘The cost is not abstract,’ she said. ‘A society that excludes vast segments of its population can realize only a fraction of its potential. Societies rules by knowledge and wisdom are, therefore, more peaceful.’

The first lady declared that ‘knowledge is power,’ and said, ‘We must capture this positive energy and ignite it across continents to transform our world — throughout our digitally connected human race.’

‘Intellect blossoms humanity’s fundamental needs: shelter, food security, clean water and healthcare.’

‘The global community must facilitate complete access to technology so that every individual can reach their full potential through education,’ she said. ‘We must strive to achieve connectivity in the most remote locations and the furthest distances from our cities.’

The first lady said the objective ‘is entirely feasible and is already on the way.’

‘Today, roughly 6 billion individuals, about 70% of people on planet Earth, have a mobile device and use the internet,’ she said. ‘If our nations band together, we can close the technological divide, empowering all to reach their full potential.’

‘From a solitary farmer on a remote Greek island to a quiet genius in Somalia or a dreamer in uptown Manhattan, anyone can read the vast treasury of human knowledge, created over centuries, which is now codified and accessible through artificial intelligence,’ she continued.

The first lady went on to question whether a ‘single digital nation-state’ could be inevitable.

‘Perhaps this idea isn’t so farfetched, since digital currency and payment systems via blockchain, plus AI’s massive factual database is already revolutionizing media and financial markets,’ she said. ‘We are in the age of imagination — a period when technology can be free and unrestricted by land borders.’

She added: ‘Now is the time for our generation to elevate our children above ideology through access to wisdom.’

The first lady said artificial intelligence is ‘democratizing knowledge’ and creating a ‘new reality for our children by disrupting the traditional academic path to information.’

‘Let’s connect everyone to knowledge through AI, including those in the most remote geographic regions of our world,’ she said. ‘AI can provide us with an understanding of each other’s needs and the needs for your children.’

The first lady said artificial intelligence is ‘redefining who gets to participate in the global economy of ideas.’

‘I believe our shared intellectual future will prove to be a more secure, harmonious, advanced civilization,’ she said. ‘The path to peace depends on us taking responsibility to empower our children through education and technology.’

The first lady stressed that ‘conflict arises from ignorance, but knowledge creates understanding, replacing fear with peace and unity.’

‘Security Council members, I encourage you to pledge to safeguard learning in our communities and promote access to heightened education for all,’ she said. ‘I implore you to build a future generation of leaders who embrace peace through education.’

The speech comes as the first lady continues her push as a champion of online protection of children and youth through her ‘Be Best’ initiative launched during the first Trump administration.

In 2025, the first lady garnered support on Capitol Hill for the passage of the Take it Down Act, which was signed into law by the president in May 2025. The law punishes internet abuse involving nonconsensual, explicit imagery.

The first lady also launched a nationwide Presidential Artificial Intelligence Challenge, which invited every student and educator across the nation to ‘unleash their imagination and showcase the spirit of American innovation’ by visiting AI.gov to sign up.

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The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad on Monday urged Americans in Iraq to shelter in place until further notice, citing heightened security threats across the country.

In an alert, the embassy advised U.S. citizens to exercise increased caution, avoid crowds and keep a low profile amid ongoing riots and demonstrations against the United States following the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. 

It said protests, particularly near the July 14th Bridge in Baghdad, have turned violent, prompting Iraqi authorities to close the International Zone in central Baghdad with limited exceptions.

The U.S. Mission in Iraq also directed all staff to shelter in place and suspended consular operations, including routine services.

Iraqi airspace is currently closed, officials said, and travelers were advised to contact airlines directly for updates.

The State Department maintains a Level 4 ‘Do Not Travel’ advisory for Iraq, urging Americans not to travel to the country for any reason and advising those already there to review personal security plans and consider departing when conditions allow.

‘Iran-aligned terrorist militias continue to pose a significant threat to public safety,’ the U.S. embassy said in a post on X. ‘Reports of missiles, drones, and rockets in Iraqi airspace continue.’

The U.S. military presence in Iraq has shifted in recent years, with Iraqi officials announcing in January the formal handover of Al-Asad Air Base from U.S. forces to Iraqi control.

The country’s defense ministry described the move as part of a broader transition toward long-term security cooperation with the United States, Britain, France, Italy, Spain and other countries, focused on training and advisory support. 

Iraqi officials said international coalition forces are scheduled to withdraw from their headquarters in Erbil by the end of September 2026 under agreed-upon timelines.

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Israeli racecar driver Alon Day was in Florida getting ready to compete in the CUBE 3 Architecture Trans Am 2 Series when the U.S. and Israel launched airstrikes in Iran in a joint offensive on Saturday.

The former NASCAR driver had a lot on his mind, thinking of his family back home as Iran launched retaliatory action against countries that have U.S. military bases in them.

‘It’s kind of a tricky situation. I’m here racing in the United States and at the same moment, my wife, my kid and everybody is in Israel,’ he told Fox News Digital. ‘It’s so complicated to think about everything. And now, when I’m a fresh dad, I want to be there. I want to be there with my family and everything. It’s extremely nervous to be here. My phone is always ringing with alarms of the ballistic missiles coming in Israel.

‘It’s a bit tough. I’m here on a mission and I’m very happy that I have the opportunity to actually race here in the United States.’

The joint airstrikes were launched on Saturday, hitting several military and nuclear facilities. The Israel Defense Forces said Sunday morning it has launched strikes in the ‘heart of Tehran,’ hitting targets that belong to the Iranian terror regime. One of the strikes left Ali Khamenei dead.

Day expressed hope that the military operations will be able to bring stability to the Middle East.

‘Probably, yeah,’ he told Fox News Digital when asked about whether he thought the region would be more peaceful. ‘I’m getting so many messages from random Iranian people, saying ‘Thank you Israel, thank you United States. We are going through a different kind of era right now.’ Something is changing. We cannot even think about what the implication of losing the war will be. If the Iranian people lose this war, they’re going to have a really bad time with the Iranian regime.

‘I feel like this is a good opportunity. But I’m not a politician. I’m not a military guy. I’m just a racecar driver. I’m on a mission and the mission is to win races as much as possible for JSSI and to bring the Israel flag here and to show how great allies Israel and the United States are together.’

Day, who has spent time on NASCAR’s Cup Series and O’Reilly Auto Parts Series circuits, said he had no plans to scrap his 2026 season.

‘Listen, I was born in 1991 – the Gulf War. I’ve been through the Intifada, Hamas, Hezbollah, everything,’ he explained. ‘Every person in Israel grew up into this, those kind of war situations. It’s very sad to say that, but we’re kind of used to that and we need to live with that.

‘And it is what it is. I think now, specifically now, it’s for a good reason.’

Day praised the U.S. and Israeli militaries for their actions.

‘I want to take this opportunity also to thank the U.S. military forces and the Israel military forces for what they’re doing to keep us safe and for a better future fighting against evilness.

‘I think everything is for a bright future in front of us. I really want to take the opportunity and thank everybody, every person who is fighting against the Iranian regime. It is for a good reason, so I want to really thank them.’

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

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President Donald Trump on Monday declared that the joint U.S.-Israeli operation to ‘crush the threat’ in Iran is ‘ahead of schedule.’

Trump provided an update on ‘Operation Epic Fury’ during a Medal of Honor ceremony at the White House, vowing that the U.S. will ‘easily prevail’ over the ‘terrorist regime.’

‘We have the strongest and most powerful, by far, military in the world, and we will easily prevail. We’re already substantially ahead of our time projections, but whatever the time is, it’s okay. Whatever it takes.’

The U.S. and Israel launched Operation Epic Fury on Saturday morning, a joint military campaign that officials say targeted Iranian leadership and key military installations.

Trump said that the operation is projected to last four to five weeks, noting that ‘we have capability to go far longer than that.’

‘We also projected four weeks to terminate the military leadership,’ Trump added. ‘And as you know, that was done in about an hour. So we’re ahead of schedule there by a lot.’

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was among five to 10 top leaders killed after an Israeli strike in Tehran as part of the joint operation, a U.S. senior official previously confirmed to Fox News. Iran’s state media also confirmed that Khamenei and several senior leaders were killed in the strikes.

Earlier Monday, War Secretary Pete Hegseth outlined what he described as a ‘clear’ three-part mission against Iran, insisting the conflict ‘is not endless’ and sharply rejecting comparisons to past U.S. wars in the Middle East.

‘We set the terms of this war from start to finish. Our ambitions are not utopian. They are realistic, scoped to our interests and the defense of our people and our allies,’ he told reporters at the Pentagon.

Officials tell Fox News that Israel is focusing on Iranian leadership targets, while the United States is targeting military sites and ballistic missile infrastructure it says pose an ‘imminent threat.’

Fox News Digital’s Ashley Carnahan and Max Bacall contributed to this report.

This is a developing news story; check back for updates.

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President Donald Trump Monday said the United States and Israel’s joint military operation against Iran was ‘our last, best chance to strike’ to ‘eliminate the intolerable threats’ posed by Tehran.

The United States and Israel launched the operation against Iran Saturday known as ‘Operation Epic Fury.’

The attacks left major Iranian leaders dead, including its supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The operation is expected to carry on for days, as the U.S. military continues to target military targets and ballistic missile sites that pose an ‘imminent threat.’

Trump warned against Iran retaliation, saying that if Iran were to ‘hit very hard,’ it would be met with ‘a force that has never been seen before.’

During a Medal of Honor ceremony at the White House Monday, the president touted his success in combating the threats posed by Iran —during both his second administration, and his first.

‘I was very proud to have knocked out the Iran nuclear deal by President Barack Hussein Obama,’ Trump said. ‘That was a horrible, horrible, dangerous document. They would have had nuclear weapons three years ago.’ 

The president said that Iran, ‘for almost 47 years’ has been ‘attacking the United States and killing Americans.’

‘Every time you see someone with missing arms and legs or a face that’s been absolutely shattered violently — it was almost certainly caused by an Iran roadside bomb,’ Trump said. ‘They were put there by General Soleimani, who was the father of the roadside bomb … But I terminated him in my first term.’ 

Trump was referring to Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani. Trump ordered the January 2020 strike that killed Soleimani at Baghdad International Airport

Soleimani was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American and coalition service members and the wounding of thousands more, according to the State Department.

Soleimani was the long-running leader of the elite intelligence wing called Quds Force — which itself has been a designated terror group since 2007 and is estimated to be 20,000 strong. Considered one of the most powerful men in Iran, he routinely was referred to as its ‘shadow commander’ or ‘spymaster.’

‘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,’ the president said Monday. ‘And they are indeed sick and sinister.’

Trump declared that the United States’ ‘objectives are clear.’

‘First, we’re destroying Iran’s missile capabilities, and you see that happening on an hourly basis and their capacity to produce brand new ones and pretty good ones they make,’ the president said. ‘Second, we’re annihilating their Navy. We’ve knocked out already ten ships. They’re at the bottom of the sea.’

‘Third, we’re ensuring that the world’s number one sponsor of terror can never obtain a nuclear weapon,’ he said. ‘They are never going to have a nuclear weapon. I said that from the beginning. They’re never going to have a nuclear weapon. They were on the road to getting one legitimately through a deal that was signed foolishly by our country.’

Finally, the president said, the United States is ‘ensuring that the Iranian regime cannot continue to arm, fund and direct terrorist armies outside of their borders.’

‘And we thought we had a deal, but then they backed out and and they came back and we thought we had a deal and they backed out,’ Trump said. ‘I said, you can’t deal with these people. You got to do it the right way.’

The Pentagon confirmed that the United States deployed B-2 stealth bombers armed with 2,000-pound bombs as part of the Operation Epic Fury campaign.

The U.S. will continue the operation with ‘ferocious, unyielding resolve,’ Trump said, adding that the U.S. has already sunk 10 of Iran’s naval vessels in addition to eliminating 49 of its top leaders.

The president Monday also honored the lives of four ‘heroic’ American service members.

‘Today we grieve for the four heroic American service members who have been killed in action and send our love and support to their families,’ the president said. ‘In their memory, we continue this mission with ferocious, unyielding resolve to crush the threat this terrorist regime poses to the American people and a threat, indeed it is.’

The president said the United States has ‘the strongest and most powerful by far military in the world, and we will easily prevail.’

‘We’re already substantially ahead of our time projections, but whatever the time is, it’s okay. Whatever it takes, we will always, and we have, right from the beginning, we projected 4 to 5 weeks, but we have capability to go far longer than that,’ Trump continued. ‘We’ll do it.’

He added: ‘Please join me in thanking every American service member who bravely is standing in harm’s way. They really are incredible.’

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Americans could soon see higher gas prices as escalating tensions in the Middle East threaten a critical global oil chokepoint, raising fears of supply disruptions that could quickly reverberate across U.S. energy markets.

After joint U.S.–Israeli strikes, dubbed Operation Epic Fury, targeted Iranian sites over the weekend and killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, concerns quickly shifted to how Tehran might respond and whether oil infrastructure or tanker traffic could become collateral damage.

Any disruption to global crude supplies could translate into higher costs for American drivers at the pump.

‘Every time we’ve had flare-ups in the Middle East like we’re seeing right now — and we’ve seen this kind of situation periodically over the last 50 years — it has caused significant disruption to energy markets,’ economist Stephen Moore told Fox News Digital. 

‘I would expect we could see anywhere from 25 to 50 cents a gallon increase in gas prices in the short term,’ he said.

Market data already shows prices moving higher.

Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said oil prices were up $5 per barrel, while wholesale gasoline prices had risen 11 cents per gallon.

He expects retail gas prices to begin climbing immediately, especially in areas where stations tend to adjust prices in sharp, periodic jumps.

The national average could hit $3 per gallon as soon as Monday, De Haan said, with some stations increasing prices by 10 to 30 cents this week and potentially more in markets that see larger price swings.

Moore warned that prices could climb further and remain elevated if vital transit routes or oil facilities are disrupted.

‘Huge amounts of global oil travel through the Strait of Hormuz, so this could be incredibly disruptive, delaying delivery of oil and gas,’ he said.

‘The Iranians have already knocked out some oil facilities in the Middle East, and who knows what they’re up to next. When you have less supply, prices go up. The big question is whether this will be a temporary bump or something more prolonged.’

The ongoing conflict sits near the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most strategically important energy corridors.

‘This shipping route represents around 25% of global oil trade and 23% of liquefied natural gas trade,’ explained Jaime Brito, executive director of refining and oil products at OPIS.

The Strait of Hormuz, a narrow shipping lane between Iran and Oman that has long been a flashpoint during regional crises, serves as a vital artery for global energy markets.

Roughly 20 million barrels of crude oil and petroleum products — about one-fifth of global oil supply — transit the strait each day, underscoring how disruption there can quickly send shockwaves through international energy markets.

Highlighting the growing concern, Maersk, widely regarded as a bellwether for global ocean freight, said it will suspend all vessel crossings through the Strait of Hormuz until further notice and cautioned that services to Arabian Gulf ports may be delayed.

Still, not all price movements are immediate.

‘Developments over the weekend in the Middle East should hypothetically take time to ripple into the global supply chain. An initial assessment would suggest no specific price impacts should be seen in the gasoline market across the world, including the U.S.,’ Brito told Fox News Digital.

However, Brito said prices could climb quickly if markets expect trouble ahead, even before supplies are actually affected.

As a result, Brito said, developments in Iran may have already translated into higher gasoline, diesel and other fuel prices in parts of the U.S., depending on regional supply dynamics and individual company pricing strategies.

From a domestic standpoint, Brito added that gasoline prices follow a seasonal pattern, typically climbing during the summer travel months.

‘March prices are not expected to be significantly high,’ he said, noting that spring break travel could support demand in certain areas — but not at the level seen during peak summer driving season.

Ultimately, the direction of gasoline prices will depend less on seasonal demand and more on how the geopolitical situation unfolds in the days ahead.

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More U.S. forces are headed to the Middle East, according to chairman of the Joint Chiefs of staff Gen. Dan Caine, as the U.S. escalates its campaign against Iran. 

‘The flow of forces continues today. In fact, Admiral Cooper will receive additional forces even today,’ Caine said during a Pentagon briefing Monday morning, referring to Central Command chief Adm. Brad Cooper. 

Caine declined to provide troop numbers, saying, ‘I don’t want to talk specifics, because that would tip the enemy off. We have more tactical aviation flowing into theater just based on the time it took to get it out there.’

I think we’re just about where we want to be in terms of total combat capacity and total combat power for Admiral Cooper.’

Caine said the additional forces build on a monthlong repositioning of U.S. assets across the region, including carrier strike groups, advanced fighter aircraft and air defense systems, as the U.S. prosecutes what officials described as ‘major combat operations’ that have already resulted in the death of 555 Iranians, according to an Associated Press count, as of Monday morning. 

Caine said the U.S. mission in Iran is to ‘prevent Iran from (the) ability to project power outside its borders.’

‘This is not a so-called regime change war, but the regime sure did change and the world is better off for it today,’ added War Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Hegseth said the mission was to destroy ​​Iranian missiles and missile production, destroy its navy and ensure it has no capability to pursue a nuclear weapon. 

The general warned the operation ‘will take some time’ and acknowledged, ‘We expect to take additional losses.’ Four U.S. service members have been killed in the operation that began in the early hours of Saturday Eastern Time. 

Hegseth said the service members were struck by an Iranian missile that penetrated air defenses at a tactical command center.

Asked whether there are American boots on the ground in Iran, Hegseth replied, ‘no,’ but said the administration would not telegraph future options.

It’s ‘one of the fallacies’ that ‘this department or presidents or others should tell the American people — and our enemies, by the way — ‘here’s exactly what we’ll do,” Hegseth said. ‘It’s foolishness.’ 

At the start of the operation known as Epic Fury, Caine said  more than 100 aircraft launched from land and sea in a synchronized wave, including fighters, tankers, electronic attack aircraft, bombers and unmanned platforms. U.S. cyber and space forces first conducted non-kinetic operations designed to disrupt and degrade Iran’s ability to communicate and respond, he said.

Tomahawk missiles fired from U.S. Navy vessels struck Iranian naval forces along the southern flank, while coordinated precision strikes targeted command and control infrastructure, ballistic missile sites and intelligence facilities.

Caine said the opening phase struck more than 1,000 targets in the first 24 hours. American B-2 bombers flew 37-hour round-trip missions from the continental United States to hit underground facilities with penetrating munitions, he added.

‘We are now roughly 57 hours into the operation,’ Caine said Monday, adding that U.S. forces have launched hundreds of missions and delivered tens of thousands of pieces of ordnance as the campaign continues to scale.

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The Israeli Health Ministry reported Monday that 777 people have been evacuated to hospitals since the start of the joint Israeli-U.S. war against Iran.

At least 10 people were killed directly by Iranian missile attacks on Israel, and two died on their way to shelters.

Since fighting began Saturday morning, hospitals nationwide have restructured operations, relocating patients underground to maintain functionality.

‘See, this child,’ professor Efrat Bron-Harlev, CEO of Schneider Children’s Medical Center, told Fox News Digital, pointing to a young patient. ‘This cart is his artificial heart. He has been living here while waiting for a heart transplant. He moved to the underground area together with 119 other children. This is not just a hospital — it’s his home.’

Schneider Children’s Medical Center has so far treated three children injured as a result of the war. The greater challenge, Bron-Harlev said, is continuing to care for all existing patients as missile sirens sound across the country.

All patients have been relocated to level minus one. Standing in a corridor, Bron-Harlev explained that if a missile were to strike at that moment, those present would need to move behind the heavy doors of reinforced areas for protection.

Once sealed, she said, the fortified section is designed to withstand even a direct missile hit and continue operating as a unit for a limited time. ‘We have electricity supplied by large batteries located in another sheltered area, as well as oxygen and air,’ she said. ‘How long we could remain there would depend on the extent of damage to the overall building. A catastrophic strike on the oxygen tanks, for example, would affect how long we could stay.’

Lessons learned from the June 2025, 12-day war include establishing a separate unit for bone marrow transplant patients with an independent ventilation system. Fresh air enters and exits the space without circulating from the regular ward, protecting the children not only from missile threats but also from potential infections from other patients.

In the event of a mass-casualty incident involving severely ill children, the hospital has prepared an intensive care unit capable of accommodating up to 20 patients at a time.

The staff’s underground dining room has been converted into a dormitory for parents. Although there was not enough time to construct fully fortified operating rooms, Bron-Harlev said part of the neonatal intensive care unit has been transformed into a restricted-access surgical area.

‘We are performing only emergency surgeries,’ she said. ‘We have created two provisional but fortified operating rooms that will function until the permanent ones currently under construction are ready. Two are sufficient for now for emergency procedures. I hope we will not face a situation in which 10 children arrive from a major incident needing surgery, but even then, we could operate on them one after the other.’

At the nearby adult hospital, which is part of the same complex — Rabin Medical Center —17 people were treated as a result of the war. The hospital has moved 500 beds 60 meters underground.

Schneider Children’s Medical Center and Rabin Medical Center are two of 14 hospitals operated by Clalit Health Services, the largest healthcare organization in Israel, providing day-to-day primary care, specialty care, and hospital care to over 5 million Israelis.

During the 12-day war, Prof. Ran Balicer, Deputy Director General and Chief of Innovation at Clalit Health Services, told Fox News Digital that a missile targeted Soroka Hospital in Beersheba and hit a building that had fortunately been evacuated the day before.

‘We’ve learned a lesson about the importance of preparing for attacks of Iranians targeting civilians in general and hospitals in particular,’ he said.

In the 24 hours following the start of the war, all patients not in safe areas were moved underground, where staff can focus on care despite the threats. The parking lot, Balicer explained, is more condensed than a normal ward.

‘There are challenges from congestion to infection control and privacy, there are no windows, all of the noise and the pressure is in, it’s a mental and physical strain on the staff, but they are here to do what they vowed to do,’ he said.

The area includes stockpiles of food, oxygen, and medical supplies. The hospital also focuses on virtual care and digital health to provide effective care without requiring patients to come in.

War-associated wounds, Balicer said, include limb injuries and other severe trauma. ‘Our rate of mortality on the frontlines is the lowest compared to anywhere else in the world. As such we have to really be effective in rehabilitation work,’ he said.

The line between the frontlines and the homefront in terms of injuries is no longer clear-cut.

‘They target civilians like they are on the frontlines, they aim deliberately to strike and hurt civilians with weapons that aim to inflict mass-casualty events,’ he said.

Israeli hospitals are also being secured by IDF soldiers deployed to assist with moving patients during missile alerts, if necessary, and to coordinate the arrival of casualties.

Major S., head of operations in the IDF’s search and rescue unit, told Fox News Digital that the forces are preparing for a prolonged campaign.

‘The last operation lasted only 12 days, and it was very significant for our unit, but this time is different,’ she said.

‘Our mindset is that this will not end until it is over for good. As the war continues, we are facing attacks from additional fronts, including Hezbollah in Lebanon and potentially the Houthis in Yemen. We are ready for every scenario,’ she added.

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