Retaliation to US strikes will be worst mistake: Rubio

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday warned Iran against retaliating against US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, saying such an action would be “the worst mistake they’ve ever made.”

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Rubio, who also serves as national security adviser, made the comments on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo” show.

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said that America “does not seek war” with Iran while Vice President JD Vance said the strikes have given Tehran a renewed chance of negotiating with Washington.

The mission, called “Operation Midnight Hammer,” involved decoys and deception, and met with no Iranian resistance, Hegseth and Air Force Gen Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at a Pentagon news conference.

“This mission was not and has not been about regime change,” Hegseth added.

Caine said the goal of the operation — destroying nuclear sites in Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan — had been achieved.

“Final battle damage will take some time, but initial battle damage assessments indicate that all three sites sustained extremely severe damage and destruction,” Caine said.

Vance he told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that “I think that we have really pushed their programme back by a very long time. I think that it’s going to be many many years before the Iranians are able to develop a nuclear weapon.”

The vice president said the US had “negotiated aggressively’ with Iran to try to find a peaceful settlement and that Trump made his decision after assessing the Iranians were not acting “in good faith.”

“I actually think it provides an opportunity to reset this relationship, reset these negotiations and get us in a place where Iran can decide not to be a threat to its neighbours, not to a threat to the United States,” Vance said.

He said it would make sense for Iran to come to the negotiating table and give up their nuclear weapons programme over the long term. “If they’re willing to do that, they’re going to find a willing partner in the United States of America,” he said, describing a possible chance of a “reset” for Tehran.

“The Americans must receive a response to their aggression,” Iran’s president Pezeshkian told French president Macron.

Raids started with tactical deception

As Operation “Midnight Hammer” got underway on Saturday, a group of B-2 bombers took off from their base in Missouri and were noticed heading out toward the Pacific island of Guam, in what experts saw as possible pre-positioning for any US decision to strike Iran.

But they were a decoy. The real group of seven bat-winged, B-2 stealth bombers flew east undetected for 18 hours, keeping communications to a minimum, refueling in mid-air, the US military revealed on Sunday.

As the bombers neared Iranian airspace, a US submarine launched more than two dozen Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles. US fighter jets flew as decoys in front of the bombers to sweep for any Iranian fighter jets and missiles.

The attack on Iran’s three main nuclear sites was the largest operational strike ever by B-2 stealth bombers, and the second-longest B-2 operation ever flown, surpassed only by those following the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States by al Qaeda.

The B-2 bombers dropped 14 bunker-busting GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators, each weighing 30,000 pounds. The operation involved over 125 US military aircraft, according to the Pentagon.

The Iranians were unable to get off a single round at the American aircraft and were caught completely flat-footed, General Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters at the Pentagon on Sunday.

“Iran’s fighters did not fly, and it appears that Iran’s surface to air missile systems did not see us throughout the mission,” Caine said.

“We retained the element of surprise.” Caine said initial battle damage assessments indicated that all three sites targeted sustained extremely severe damage and destruction, but he declined to speculate whether any Iranian nuclear capabilities might still be intact.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said it took months of preparations to ensure the US military would be ready if Trump ordered the strikes. Caine said the mission itself, however, came together in just a matter of weeks.

Guarding against blowback, the US military also dispersed US military assets in West Asia and heightened force protection for US troops.

Hegseth said the US military was positioned to defend itself in West Asia, but also to respond against Iran if it goes through with longstanding threats to retaliate.

The Trump administration said it is not looking for a wider war with Iran, with Hegseth saying private messages had been sent to Tehran encouraging them to negotiate.

US Democrats demand answers, Republicans divided

Trump must provide American people “clear answers” on his decision to strike Iran, a democratic senator said.

Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer said the danger of wider, longer and more devastating war had dramatically increased. “Enforce the War Powers Act,” he said, calling on all senators on both sides of the aisle to vote for it. The War Powers Act is a congressional resolution designed to limit the president’s ability to initiate or escalate military actions abroad. The attack could deepen a divide among Trump’s Republican supporters, including high-profile backers who had said this would be against the anti-interventionism he promised.

Gulf states prepare for possible attack by Iran

Gulf states, home to multiple US military bases, were on high alert on Sunday with their leaders calling on all parties to exercise maximum restraint following US strikes on Iran that raised the possibility of a wider conflict in the region.

Gulf leaders including the United Arab Emirates president, the Emir of Qatar and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, who had all hosted Trump last month for a tour of the region, discussed the serious implications of the escalation for international and regional security, the UAE state news agency reported.

Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, was on a high-security alert after the US strikes, two sources with knowledge of the matter told international media on Sunday, while Bahrain urged motorists to avoid main roads.

Kuwait, another key oil exporter, said its defence council would remain in permanent session, according to the state news agency on Sunday, and set up shelters in a ministries complex.

Tehran has previously warned that if it were attacked by the United States, it could target American assets in the region, including US military bases.

The country’s parliament approved the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which around 20% of global oil and gas demand flows, according to Iran’s Press TV, but a final decision rests with the Iranian Supreme National Security Council.

Bahrain is home to the headquarters of the US Navy’s 5th Fleet and there are U.S. bases in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, as well as in neighbouring Qatar and the UAE.

“While the war has so far been contained in direct hostilities between Israel and Iran, direct US involvement is a critical threshold that risks dragging the Gulf states, notably Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar, which host large U.S. military facilities, into the conflict,” said Hasan Al Hasan, a senior fellow for Middle East Policy at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

The US strikes added to airline woes with Singapore Airlines cancelling flights from Singapore to Dubai on Sunday and British Airways cancelling flights to and from Dubai and Doha.

Investors brace for crude price spike, rush to havens

The US attack on Iranian nuclear sites could push oil prices even higher and trigger a knee-jerk rush to safety, investors said, as they assessed how the latest escalation of tensions would ripple through the global economy.

The reaction in West Asian stock markets, which trade on Sunday, suggested investors were assuming a benign outcome, even as Iran intensified its missile attacks on Israel in response to the sudden, deep U.S. involvement in the conflict.

Investors said they expected US involvement would cause a stock market selloff and a possible bid for the dollar and other safe-haven assets when major markets reopen, but also said much uncertainty remained.

“I think the markets are going to be initially alarmed, and I think oil will open higher,” said Mark Spindel, chief investment officer at Potomac River Capital.

“We don’t have any damage assessment and that will take some time. Even though (Trump) has described this as ‘done’, we’re engaged,” Spindel said.

“I think the uncertainty is going to blanket the markets, as now Americans everywhere are going to be exposed. It’s going to raise uncertainty and volatility, particularly in oil,” he added.

One indicator of how markets will react in the coming week was the price of ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency and a gauge of retail investor sentiment. Ether was down 8.5% on Sunday, taking losses since the first Israeli strikes on Iran on June 13 to 13%.

Most Gulf stock markets, however, seemed unconcerned by the early morning attacks.