U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday (March 2, 2026) that the U.S. military campaign against Iran could continue for more than a month, as the conflict widened with Israel carrying out strikes in Lebanon and Tehran targeting oil facilities across Gulf states.
New powerful explosions rattled windows in Tehran early on Tuesday (March 3, 2026) as fighter jets were seen flying over the Iranian capital, witnesses reported, in what marked another intense day of strikes in the widening conflict. Meanwhile, the United States has issued an urgent travel advisory urging Americans to “depart now” from much of the Middle East – from Egypt eastward – due to serious safety risks as hostilities escalate across the region.
Mr. Trump said the war, which began on Saturday (February 28, 2026) with a joint strike that killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was progressing “substantially” ahead of schedule and that the United States is prepared for a prolonged conflict.
“From the outset, we projected the campaign would last four to five weeks, but we have the capacity to continue far beyond that,” Mr. Trump said at the White House. He went on to outline the operation’s goals – dismantling Iran’s missile and naval capabilities, curbing its nuclear programme, and halting its support for armed groups across the region – notably stopping short of calling for the overthrow of the Islamic Republic.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio offered a notably different account of how the conflict began, saying the United States entered the fight only after learning that its ally Israel was preparing to strike Iran, a move Washington believed would provoke retaliation.
The remarks drew scepticism from rival Democrats. Senator Mark Warner described the idea of the U.S. being drawn into war based on Israel’s threat assessment as “uncharted territory,” arguing that equating a danger to Israel with an imminent threat to the United States sets a concerning precedent.