U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth does not rule out putting American boots on the ground in Iran during this morning’s press conference, stating there are not currently any there, but that, “We're not going to go into the exercise of what we will or will not do.”

The American-flagged bulk oil tanker, M/T STENA IMPERATIVE, 1 of 10 tankers that are part of the U.S. Navy’s Tanker Security Program (TSP), tasked with guaranteeing the military access to fuel delivery in global conflict zones and national emergencies, was struck this morning by several projectiles launched by Iran while pierside at the Port of Bahrain. The attack resulted in several fired onboard which have since been extinguished, though the extent of damage to the vessel is still unknown.

Amidst ongoing IDF strikes on Lebanese Hezbollah (LH) groupings and infrastructure, the IDF has said it eliminated the head of LH’s intelligence headquarters, Hussein Makled.

Speaking earlier with CNN’s Jake Tapper, President Donald J. Trump said regarding Operation Epic Fury, the ongoing strike campaign against Iran, “We’re knocking the crap out of them - I think it’s going very well. It’s very powerful. We’ve got the greatest military in the world and we’re using it.” Trump also alluded to a further “big wave” of attacks against Iran that hasn’t occurred yet, telling CNN, “We haven’t even started hitting them hard. The big wave hasn’t even happened. The big one is coming soon.”

Eighteen American servicemembers have been seriously wounded so far during Operation Epic Fury, the U.S. military’s ongoing strike campaign against Iran, according to the Spokesperson for U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), Capt. Tim Hawkins, up from the five reported on Sunday.

The UAE’s Ministry of Defence states that so far Monday they have intercepted 9 ballistic missiles, 6 cruise missiles, and 148 drones launched from Iran.

Photos posted of the pilot from one of the U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles shot down this morning in a “friendly fire” incident over Kuwait, show a severe injury to his left hand, with his flight helmet suggesting the F-15E was from the 335th Fighter Squadron out of Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina.

Qatar’s Ministry of Defense announces that the Qatar Emiri Air Force successfully downed 2 Iranian Su-24s that were approaching Qatari Airspace from the direction of the Persian Gulf, in addition to 7 ballistic missiles and 5 drones launched by Iran against areas of Qatar.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) states for the first time that the IRIS Shahid Bagheri, a drone carrier operated by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Navy (IRGCN), was targeted “within hours of launching Operation Epic Fury.” Adding that it is the “only carrier to have been hit,” referencing false claims by Iranian state-run media suggesting drone and missile attacks against the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72).

Reports of air raids sirens and the activation of ground-based air defenses at Iraq’s Balad Air Base to the north of Baghdad. Nearby residents claim to have heard several explosions, with smoke now seen rising from Balad.

It’s becoming increasingly evident that nearly all of, if not the entirety, of Iran’s fleet of large surface combatants, operated by the Iranian Navy and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN), have already been destroyed by strikes from the U.S. Air Force and Navy.

Footage has now been published by U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) of last night’s round-trip strike mission against “Iranian ballistic missile capabilities” by B-1B “Lancer” Long-Range Heavy Bombers with the U.S. Air Force’s 28th Bomb Wing, based out of Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota.

In a recently released video from the Israel Defense Force, an Israeli fighter jet pilot evades Iranian surface-to-air missiles fired at his aircraft during strike operations over Tehran, Iran.

After a similar statement this morning from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, President Trump told the New York Post in a quick interview on Monday that he would not rule out sending American ground troops into Iran, stating, “I don’t have the yips with respect to boots on the ground. Every President says, ‘There will be no boots on the ground.’ I don’t say it.” President Trump added that he “probably” doesn’t need to send ground troops but that he is open to the possibility “if they were necessary.”

An Iranian drone strike on a hotel in the city of Manama, the capital of Bahrain, injured two employees with the U.S. Department of Defense over the weekend, according a diplomatic cable from the State Department seen by The Washington Post.

The U.S. Embassy in Kuwait has instructed staff to continue to shelter-in-place, while recommending that all Americans in the country do the same, with the airspace over Kuwait still closed due to constant attacks by Iran.

Kuwait becomes the first of the Gulf Nations to announce the death of one of their servicemembers as a result of hostile action by Iran, identified as Sgt. Walid Majid Sulaiman of the Kuwaiti Navy, with the full statement from Kuwait’s Ministry of Defense reading:

Press Release
Issued by the General Staff of the Army

*The General Staff of the Army Mourns Duty Martyr Sergeant Walid Majid Sulaiman*

The General Staff of the Army mourns Duty Martyr Sergeant Walid Majid Sulaiman, one of the members of the Naval Force in the Kuwaiti Army, who was martyred this evening while performing his duty as part of the national missions entrusted to the armed forces.

Asking the Almighty Lord to envelop him in His vast mercy, to admit him into the spacious gardens of Paradise, and to inspire his family with patience and solace.

Explosions and interceptions reported over Doha, the capital of Qatar, as Iran launches yet another wave of ballistic missile against the Gulf Nations.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) has published footage of a strikes recently against an Iranian naval vessel in the Gulf of Oman, possibly a Jamaran-class corvette or another one of the surface combatants that were struck Saturday/Sunday at Konarak Naval Base in the Sistan and Baluchestan Province of Southeastern Iran. Along with the video, CENTCOM states, “Two days ago, the Iranian regime had 11 ships in the Gulf of Oman, today they have ZERO.”

Sirens sounding now in Bahrain.

Out of an abundance of caution, all personnel at the U.S. Embassy in Jordan have temporarily departed the Embassy Compound in Amman due to a threat, according to a release by the U.S. State Department.