On a US late-night television show Saturday, the host played a clip from 2011 of a businessman warning that president Barack Obama “will start a war with Iran because he has absolutely no ability to negotiate.”That businessman was Donald Trump. Fast-forward 15 years and Trump, now in his own second term as president, ordered huge military strikes on Iran when talks with Tehran brought no breakthrough.The commander-in-chief has repeatedly declared himself to be a “President of Peace,” boasted of his dealmaking ability in ending global conflicts, and complained of being cheated of the Nobel Peace Prize.His rise to power in 2016 on an “America First” platform was partly fueled by his rejection of bloody foreign wars waged by the United States in Iraq and Afghanistan.Back on the campaign trail in 2024, he repeatedly said he had started “no new wars.” After returning to the White House he slammed the “so-called nation-builders” who “wrecked far more nations than they built.”In line with his vision of himself, Trump earlier this year held the first meeting of his “Board of Peace” — a body originally created to uphold the Gaza ceasefire that has morphed into a would-be United Nations featuring several authoritarians.When the Nobel academy snubbed him, Trump even proudly accepted a peace award from football’s world governing body FIFA that appeared to have been specially created for him.- ‘Major surprise’ -But in the second year of his second term, Trump suddenly appears as comfortable prosecuting war as making peace.In the space of less than two months, the man who once shunned “regime change” has reveled in the military operations that toppled Venezuela’s president and killed the supreme leader of Iran.That’s not to mention threatening a military takeover of Greenland from NATO ally Denmark.”All this comes as a major surprise,” said Richard Haass, a former diplomat in president George W. Bush’s administration.”This is an administration that has shown no interest in regime change or democracy promotion elsewhere,” Haass said in a newsletter. “Why here and now is a mystery as there is no clear evidence that the Iranian regime (however unpopular and weakened) is on the edge of collapse.”The scion of a property empire, Trump himself avoided the draft for the Vietnam war. But the former military academy student has long shown a fascination for martial trappings, often surrounding himself with soldiers and visiting military sites.He frequently brags about US military might, including in last year’s strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, and boasted of restoring America’s fighting force to its former glories with new battleships that critics say would be sitting ducks for missiles.- ‘I got power’ -The question now is what effect Trump’s wars will have on US voters, especially the Trump supporters who believed his campaign promises to end its “forever wars.”The first major test will be the American public’s willingness to tolerate military casualties, with the announcement Sunday of the first three service members to die in action against Iran. After the strikes, only one in four Americans approved of the attacks while 43 percent disapproved, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released Sunday.Trump’s wars could figure heavily in the November’s midterm elections, in which Republicans already fear they could lose control of the House of Representatives.Trump is deep under water in the polls thanks largely to voters still feeling the pinch from the cost of living — an issue the Iran strikes could exacerbate if oil prices spike.The effect on his base will be a particular concern. Former “Make America Great Again” firebrand Marjorie Taylor Greene, who split from Trump last year, called the Iran attack a “lie.”But Trump makes no bones about how he enjoys commanding the world’s most powerful military.Welcoming the Florida Panthers ice hockey team to the White House in January, Trump joked that he hated the assembled players because of their good looks and “all this power.””But I got power too, it’s called the United States military,” he said.

Cheers and mourning in Iran. Euphoric celebrations against the Iranian regime and angry protests against the war. Uncertainty about what comes next.The world greeted with jubilation, anger or trepidation the news Sunday that Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had been killed in the US-Israeli strikes on the Islamic republic one day earlier.- Music in Tehran -Iranians took to the streets cheering with joy, setting off fireworks and playing celebratory music after reports of Khamenei’s death, according to witnesses and video footage verified by AFP. The celebrations in Tehran began shortly after 11:00 pm (1930 GMT), according to multiple witnesses and audio recordings.People were not, however, coming out en masse to celebrate, according to social media.Many Iranians were fearful after the deadly crackdown on mass anti-government protests in January. – Mourning in Tehran -The thousands who did gather in the centre of Iran’s capital were instead mourning Khamenei’s death, according to AFP journalists.The mourners, dressed mostly in black and some crying, chanted “death to America” and “death to Israel” in Enghelab (Revolution) Square, with many waving Iran’s flags and holding photos of Khamenei.Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian on Sunday branded Khamenei’s killing a “declaration of war against Muslims” by Israel and the United States. Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guards vowed earlier on Sunday to punish Khamenei’s “murderers”.- Deadly protests -At least 17 people were killed across Pakistan as hundreds of pro-Iranian protesters tried to storm US diplomatic buildings Sunday.Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who has close ties to both the United States and Iran, called Khamenei’s killing a “violation” of international law.”It is an age old convention that the Heads of States/Government should not be targeted,” he wrote on X, sending his “most sincere condolence on the martyrdom” of Khamenei.Hundreds of Iraqis also attempted Sunday to storm Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone, where the US embassy is located, an AFP journalist reported.Protests also took place in Srinagar, in Indian-administered Kashmir.In Istanbul, protesters carried portraits of Khamenei as they marched against the war, with some burning posters of US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he was “saddened” by the ayatollah’s death, and extended his sympathies to the Iranian people.In Seoul, South Korea, protesters held “Hands off Iran” signs in front of the US embassy.Similar protests took place in Hyderabad in India and in Athens, Greece.- ‘Free Iran’ -Jubilant Iranians took to the streets in Europe and the United States to cheer Khamenei’s death.In Los Angeles, home to a massive Iranian diaspora, singing and ululating marchers carried flags of shah-era Iran and posters bearing Trump’s image, with some wearing “Free Iran” shirts.There were marches in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and in Paris, with participants waving pre-Islamic revolution Iranian flags and some holding placards with photos of the late shah’s son, Reza Pahlavi.In the French capital, one woman who was born in Iran and moved to France in 1980, called Khamenei’s death “the beginning of the end”.”I have high hopes for the Crown Prince (Pahlavi) because I think he is the most suited to lead the transition,” said Suiz Ziai.”Obviously, it is up to the Iranians to decide but for now, everything is starting off very well.”- ‘Serious violation ‘ -China said Sunday the killing was “a serious violation of Iran’s sovereignty and security, a trampling on the aims and principles of the UN Charter and the basic norms of international relations”.”China firmly opposes and strongly condemns this,” Beijing’s foreign ministry statement added in a statement, calling for “immediate halting of military operations”. – ‘Cynical violation’ -Russian President Vladimir Putin, a key ally of Tehran, on Sunday slammed Khamenei’s killing as a “a cynical violation of all norms of human morality and international law”.In a letter to Pezeshkian published by the Kremlin, Putin also expressed his “deepest condolences for the assassination”.- ‘Most evil’ -“Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead,” US President Donald Trump said, announcing the killing on his Truth Social network late Saturday.The killing “is the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their country,” Trump said.- ‘Cruel tyrant’ -Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also called for Iranians to “overthrow the regime” after Khamenei’s killing.”For more than three and a half decades, this cruel tyrant has spread terror across the world while oppressing his own people, while working tirelessly and without pause on a plan to destroy Israel,” he said in a televised statement.- ‘Irreparable chasm’ -Pope Leo XIV on Sunday called for an end to the “spiral of violence before it becomes an irreparable chasm,” speaking to a crowd in St Peter’s Square.- ‘Hope’ -A nephew of Khamenei, a France-based doctor opposed to the Islamic republic, welcomed his uncle’s death.”Like most Iranians, I am happy,” Mahmoud Moradkhani, the son of one of Khamenei’s sisters, said by telephone from his home in northern France.”I think it’s a step forward, a hope,” he said, predicting that the government was unlikely to survive.The exiled son of Iran’s last shah called for Iranians to stage nightly protests to help overthrow the government.Reza Pahlavi, 65, also urged the “remaining officials of this republic of terror” to hand over power without bloodshed, in a post on X.- ‘Defining moment’ -EU chief Ursula von der Leyen called for a “credible transition” while the bloc’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the killing was a “defining moment”.”What comes next is uncertain. But there is now an open path to a different Iran, one that its people may have greater freedom to shape,” Kallas wrote on X.Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Germany shared Iranians’ “relief” to see the “mullah regime come to an end” but cautioned that Khamenei’s death had set the country on a path to an “uncertain future”.- ‘Bloodthirsty dictator’ -UK Defence Secretary John Healey said Sunday that “few people will mourn” Khamenei, echoing Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.French government spokeswoman Maud Bregeon likewise said that France “could only be satisfied with his demise”, calling him a “bloodthirsty dictator”.- ‘Head of the snake’ -Israelis celebrated the death of Khamenei, a sworn enemy of Israel who called the nation “a malign tumour that must be eradicated”.”When you cut off the head of the snake, the snake can no longer rise again,” Moti Arad, a lawyer in Tel Aviv, told AFP.The word “hussal,” meaning “eliminated” in Hebrew, featured on almost major media, the killing marking a rare point of consensus in Israel’s polarised political landscape.- ‘Heinous’ attack -Iran’s ally Hamas on Sunday mourned Khamenei. “The US and the fascist occupation government bear full responsibility for this blatant aggression and heinous crime,” the Palestinian Islamist group said. Fellow Iran proxy Hezbollah likewise vowed to “undertake our duty of confronting the aggression” of Israel and the US.burs-phz/jj

The Pentagon announced the first American casualties in the US-Israeli campaign that killed the supreme leader of Iran, where powerful explosions shook the capital for a second day on Sunday.The fresh blasts on Sunday evening in Tehran came after a day of dramatic Iranian missile and drone attacks on countries across the Middle East, with explosions reported in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and Israel.Iran has remained publicly defiant in the face of the US and Israeli bombardment, but US President Donald Trump told The Atlantic magazine that its leaders “want to talk”, and that he had agreed.The Pentagon reported that “three US service members have been killed in action and five are seriously wounded”, adding several others had sustained minor shrapnel injuries and concussions. “Major combat operations continue and our response effort is ongoing,” it said.Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, meanwhile, announced a “large-scale” attack on Sunday as it launched missiles and drones at installations around the Gulf.An attack on the central Israeli city of Beit Shemesh killed at least nine people, with others still missing, authorities said.Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian declared Khamenei’s killing a “declaration of war against Muslims” and warned: “Iran considers it its legitimate duty and right to avenge the perpetrators and masterminds of this historic crime.”Israel described Khamenei’s death as a “first step”, and military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani boasted that the joint operation “eliminated 40 senior commanders, including Khamenei, in one minute”.  In a social media post that adopted Trump’s style and rhetoric, Ali Larijani, the powerful head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, declared: “Today we will hit them with a force that they have never experienced before.”Trump had levelled a similar threat against Iran earlier on Sunday, but in an interview with The Atlantic, he said: “They want to talk, and I have agreed to talk, so I will be talking to them.” Asked when such talks might take place, Trump added, “I can’t tell you.”Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for his part, said Israeli attacks on Iran “will only escalate in the days ahead”.The Israeli military announced it was mobilising around 100,000 reservists and “raising its level of readiness on the various fronts” as part of the campaign. – Unprecedented force threat -Iranian state TV reported on Sunday evening that a “technical team is assessing the damage” at its headquarters after they were targeted in a strike, though it was not knocked off the air.The broadcaster was previously attacked during the 12-day war with Israel in June, which the US briefly joined.Iranian media also reported that an attack on the headquarters of a border regiment in the western city of Mehran, near Iraq, killed 43 members of the security forces.”According to initial reports, this hostile act was carried out by agents of the United States and the Zionist regime,” the Mehr news agency said.Earlier, cheers had been heard as some Iranians celebrated reports of the death of their longtime leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, but after state media confirmed his killing, pro-government demonstrations also formed, chanting “Death to America!”Iran’s first retaliatory strikes on Saturday hit all the Gulf states apart from Oman, which had sought to mediate US-Iran talks. But on Sunday the country’s commercial port of Duqm was hit by two drones, injuring a foreign worker, the Oman News Agency said.Three ships were also attacked in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, maritime security agencies said, after Iran had previously declared the strategic waterway was closed.Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had struck the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, which Washington deployed to the region ahead of the campaign, but the Pentagon insisted it was not hit, saying the “missiles launched didn’t even come close”.Trump, meanwhile, said that US military strikes had sunk nine Iranian naval vessels and partially destroyed its navy headquarters.Britain urged UK citizens in the Gulf region to “shelter in place”, while the US mission in Jordan urged citizens to stay away from the embassy, and in Bahrain told them to avoid hotels after one was damaged in a strike.  In Iran, the Red Crescent said on Saturday evening that strikes had left 201 people dead and injured hundreds more.Internet monitor Netblocks said connectivity had been down for 24 hours in the country.Iran’s judiciary confirmed that Ali Shamkhani, a top adviser to Khamenei, and General Mohammad Pakpour, the head of Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guards, were among those killed.Iran’s retaliatory strikes in the Gulf have killed at least four people and wounded dozens of others.The UAE, where three people were killed, said it was withdrawing its ambassador from Iran and closing its embassy over the attacks.- Question on succession -Iran had already seen intense speculation on a successor to Khamenei, given his age of 86. Upon his death, many observers expected greater power for the Revolutionary Guards, which are deeply entrenched in the Iranian economy.On Sunday, Iran named Ayatollah Alireza Arafi to join Pezeshkian on an interim leadership council to lead the country while a permanent successor is found for the supreme leader.Iranians met the death of Khamenei with a mix of shock, grief and joy.One Tehran resident in her 30s said people had “shouted for joy”, even in the midst of a war.She said Khamenei’s hands were stained with blood, and recalled that Iranian security forces crushed mass protests in January. “We all realised that there is no way, absolutely no way, to reform this regime except through foreign intervention,” she added.But one truck driver said he could not see things turning out well.”I don’t know what will happen in the future, but it’s not a good future for us Iranians,” he said.burs/smw/dcp