In a letter posted on Tuesday to his X account, National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent said that Iran posed “no imminent threat” to the US and claimed that the Trump administration “started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby”.

Kent, 45, is a US special forces and CIA veteran whose wife, navy cryptologic technician Shannon Kent, was killed in a suicide bombing in Syria in 2019.

The White House has dismissed the letter as having “many false claims” about Iran.

Speaking in the Oval Office on Tuesday, Trump said that he thought Kent was a “nice guy” but “weak on security”.

Trump said that Kent’s resignation letter made him realise “it was a good thing that he’s out” and that he disagreed with Kent’s assessment of the Iranian threat.

With his departure, Kent becomes the most high-profile figure from within the Trump administration to publicly criticise the US-Israeli operation in Iran.

In the letter, Kent said that had previously supported Trump’s foreign policy platform and until last year believed that he had “had understood that the wars in the Middle East that robbed America of the precious lives of our patriots and depleted the wealth and prosperity of our nation.”

Additionally, Kent alleged that “high-ranking Israeli officials” and influential US journalists had sowed “misinformation” that caused Trump to undermine his “America First” platform.

“This echo chamber was used to deceive you into believing that Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States,” the letter continued. “This was a lie.”

Kent, a long-time supporter of Trump’s who unsuccessfully ran for Congress twice, was nominated by the president early in his administration and narrowly confirmed to his post, with many Democrats criticising his links to extremist groups including members of the Proud Boys.

In the confirmation hearing, Kent also refused to back away from claims that federal agents had fomented the January 6 riots at the US Capitol or that Trump had won the 2020 election.

At the National Counterterrorism Center, he reported to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and oversaw the analysis and detection of potential terrorist threats from around the globe.

Previously, Kent had deployed 11 times overseas with the US military, including with the US Army’s special forces in Iraq.

He later became a paramilitary officer at the CIA, before leaving government service after his wife’s death.

Kent cited his military service and her death in his letter, saying that he “cannot support sending the next generation off to fight and die in a war that serves no benefit to the American people nor justifies the cost of American lives”.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt accused Kent of echoing “the false claim that Democrats and some in the liberal media” by saying that Iran posed no threat.

“As President Trump has clearly and explicitly stated, he had strong and compelling evidence that Iran was going to attack the United States first,” she added.

Additionally, Leavitt said that Kent’s suggestion that “Trump made the decision based on the influence of others, even foreign countries, is both insulting and laughable”.

In a brief interview with the New York Times, conservative media commentator Tucker Carlson praised Kent, with whom he has close personal ties.

“Joe is the bravest man I know, and he can’t be dismissed as a nut,” Carlson said. “He’s leaving a job that gave him access to the highest-level relevant intelligence. The neocons will try to destroy him for that.”

“He understands that and did it anyway,” he added.

There have been a number of resignations among senior officials in the Trump administration, including Security and Exchange Commission enforcement director Margaret Ryan and Kennedy Center President Ric Grenell.

The president’s second term, however, has seen far less turnover than his previous tenure at the White House between 2017 and 2021.

But if the American commander-in-chief is grappling with a war of choice that seems in danger of spiralling in ways he can’t control, those concerns are not playing out in public.

In more than an hour of public remarks at the White House on Monday, he discussed his thinking on the state of the war effort – and also on Kennedy Center renovations, White House ballroom construction plans, this year’s World Cup tournament, the health of a Republican congressman and a host of other unrelated topics.

It was classic Trump, as unscripted and wide-ranging as ever. This past weekend, he played golf at his Florida resort. And on his Truth Social website, he devoted nearly as much time to railing about the Supreme Court as he did to discussing the Iran War.

While Trump may be interested in other topics, he is confronting a lesson previous American presidents have learned the hard way – that war can consume a presidency whether they want it to or not.

And evidence continues to mount that a war that Trump had previously said was “already won” and “very complete” now has a timeline that could stretch for weeks or even longer.

On Monday afternoon, Trump announced that the US had requested that a planned presidential trip to China in early April be delayed for a month because of the war.

“The president’s utmost responsibility right now as commander in chief is to ensure the continued success of Operation Epic Fury,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said when the move was first reported, referring to the military name for the Iran war.

Over the weekend, the president posted on social media that he was forming a coalition of forces to help protect shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which has been threatened by Iranian attacks.

“Hopefully China, France, Japan, South Korea, the UK, and others, that are affected by this artificial constraint, will send Ships,” he wrote. “One way or the other, we will soon get the Hormuz Strait OPEN, SAFE, and FREE!

Since his call, however, a growing list of nations – including Japan, Australia and many European powers – have indicated that they are not interested in joining the effort.

“We will not be drawn into the wider war,” UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Monday, adding that he was open to a “viable collective plan” to address the situation in the strait.

That leaves Trump with the unpleasant decision of whether to more fully commit the US Navy to securing the narrow waterway through which approximately 20% of the world’s oil supply passes.

On Monday, he noted that the US was destroying Iran’s minelaying ships – which present a key danger to navigating the strait – but “all it takes is one”.

“It’s a little unfair,” he said. “You win a war, but they have no right to be doing what they’re doing.”

There are some signs the US is taking steps to keep its military options open. Last Friday, US media reported that the president had ordered a Marine amphibious unit, which includes 5,000 soldiers and sailors, from Japan to the Middle East.

If Trump chooses to act, it could put US forces in greater danger due to their proximity to Iran.

If he doesn’t act – if he instead announces the US has achieved its objective of significantly degrading Iran’s military power and wraps up the American military campaign – Iran could continue to pose a threat to shipping and the price of oil could remain stubbornly high.

In the second scenario, the US may have spent tens of billions of dollars without conclusively altering the Middle East balance of power.

According to Clifford Young, chair of public affairs and strategic insights at polling company Ipsos, an extended surge in energy prices would pose a very real political threat to a president who is already on shaky ground with the American public.

For the moment, he said, polls indicate that Trump’s core supporters continue to stick with him even as they have some doubts about the Iran operation and other core issues, like immigration and tariffs. The erosion of his support has come at the margins, among centrist Republican and independent voters.

While the president’s popularity, with approval ratings in the low 40% range, should be a concern for Republicans, there’s little sign yet that the Iran war is dragging him down significantly.

That could all change, however, if the war affects the issues that Americans tell pollsters they care about the most – the cost of living and affordability.

Prices, particularly for housing, groceries and consumer goods, continue to remain high even as the overall inflation rate has dropped over the first year of Trump’s presidency.

At the very least, the war in Iran distracts Trump and his administration from efforts to convince the American public that the president is addressing their economic concerns. And if the cost of gas at the pump – until recently a source of pride for Trump – stays high, it could have dire consequences for his political standing.

The current average cost of a gallon of petrol in the US, according to the American Automobile Association, is $3.72 – a dramatic increase from the $2.94 average price a month ago.

“It just blows up everything,” Young said. “The affordability agenda gets torpedoed from the Republican point of view.”

On the other end of the risk equation for the president is the very real danger that comes with choosing to expand US operations in the Middle East.

With thousands of Marines reportedly on the way to the region, Trump could engage American ground forces to secure the Strait of Hormuz, to control Iranian oil export terminals or to locate and more thoroughly dismantle components of the nation’s nuclear programme.

Any use of US troops, however, risks greater outcry from the majority of the American public that is wary of yet another protracted US military engagement, including many of whom believe Trump’s campaign promises to avoid foreign wars.

“There’s a forever war fatigue,” Young said. “If we put boots on the ground, that’s a whole new risk for the administration. That changes everything.”

If the US involvement in Iran continues to be limited to an aerial campaign, however, Trump has time to regain his political footing. While Americans can be quick to blame the president for higher prices at the pump, their anger tends not to linger if those prices go down.

The midterm congressional elections in November are still more than seven months away, giving the president time to find a resolution that avoids a domestic economic crisis.

“We don’t need anybody,” Trump said on Monday. “We’re the strongest nation in the world.”

The challenge for Trump, however, is that – with or without help – none of Trump’s present choices are without risk and the odds of a quick and easy resolution are dwindling by the day.

Charles “Sonny” Burton, 75, was sentenced to death for the murder of a man during a store robbery in 1991, even though he was not in the building at the time of the killing.

Burton with five other men robbed the store that day, but he had left the building when one of the other robbers shot a customer. Alabama law, like many other states, allows the execution of a co-felon, even if they themselves did not kill anyone.

The victim’s daughter, who was just nine when her father was killed, was among those who pleaded for a reprieve for Burton.

“No one from the State has ever sat with me to explain why Alabama believes it must execute a man who did not kill my father,” Tori Battle, whose father Doug Battle was killed in the robbery, wrote in an article published in the Montgomery Advertiser. “My love for my father does not require another death, especially one that defies reason.”

According to court testimony, on 16 August, 1991, Burton, Derrick DeBruce and four other men decided to rob an AutoZone in Talladega, Alabama.

Doug Battle, a customer, entered the auto parts store as the robbery was coming to an end.

Battle reportedly got into an argument with DeBruce, who shot him in the back. Burton had already left the store when the shooting happened, a fact that prosecutors did not dispute.

DeBruce, the gunman, died in prison while serving a sentence of life without parole. He was initially sentenced to the death penalty, but it was reduced because his trial lawyers provided inadequate counsel.

Burton was scheduled to be executed on Thursday night by nitrogen gas.

After the commutation of Burton’s death sentence by Alabama Governor Kay Ivey, he will now serve a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

“I cannot proceed in good conscience with the execution of Mr. Burton under such disparate circumstances,” the Republican governor said in a statement. “I believe it would be unjust for one participant in this crime to be executed while the participant who pulled the trigger was not.”

Governor Ivey, who has presided over 25 executions, said she firmly believed in the death penalty, but said it also must be administered fairly and proportionately.

Burton, who is in a wheelchair because of health issues, told CNN this week that he had apologised to Battle’s family.

“I didn’t kill no one, true enough, but I made a mistake by being part of the crime,” he said.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall expressed disappointment in a statement to NBC News.

“There has never been any doubt that Sonny Burton has Douglas Battle’s blood on his hands,” he said.

“Burton does not deserve special treatment because he is old – he could have been executed a long time ago, but like many death-row inmates, he chose to drag out his case through endless frivolous appeals.”

The spacecraft is projected to re-enter around 19:45 EST (00:45 GMT) on Tuesday the US Space Force predicted, according to Nasa, though there is a 24-hour margin of “uncertainty” in the timing.

The Van Allen Probe A, which launched in 2012, is expected mostly to burn up as it travels through the atmosphere, though some components may survive.

The space agency said there is a one in 4,200 chance of being harmed by a piece of the probe, which it characterised as “low” risk.

The spacecraft and its twin, Van Allen Probe B, were on a mission to gather unprecedented data on Earth’s two permanent radiation belts.

It was not immediately clear where in Earth’s atmosphere the satellite is projected to re-enter. The BBC has contacted Nasa for further detail.

NASA and the US Space Force has said it will monitor the re-entry and update any predictions.

The mission, which was originally designed to last two years, went on for almost seven. It ended after the spacecrafts ran out of fuel and were no longer able to orient themselves toward the Sun.

The probes flew through rings of charged particles trapped by Earth’s magnetic field from 2012 to 2019, in order to study how particles were gained and lost, per Nasa.

Those rings, called the Van Allen belts, shield Earth from cosmic radiation, solar storms and streaming solar wind, which are harmful to humans and can damage technology.

The mission made significant discoveries, including the first data that show the existence of a transient third radiation belt, which can form during times of intense solar activity, Nasa said.

Van Allen Probe B is not expected to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere before 2030.

“I emerge from this briefing as dissatisfied and angry, frankly, as I have from any past briefing in my 15 years,” said Senator Richard Blumenthal, following Tuesday’s briefing to the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Their statements marked the latest wave of condemnation from congressional Democrats, who have a slim minority in the Senate and the US House of Representatives.

Party members in both chambers had recently voted in near unison on resolutions seeking to halt the war, which the US and Israel launched on February 28.

But their efforts to pass a “war powers resolution” to rein in Trump failed amid widespread Republican opposition.

More recently, Democrats have pledged to delay proceedings in the Senate unless top officials from the Department of State and the Pentagon testify under oath about the war.

Following Tuesday’s briefing, Democrats like Blumenthal argued that the Trump administration owes the US public more clarity about the war.

Blumenthal added that the meeting piqued concerns that US forces may be deployed to either Iraq or Iran.

“I am left with more questions than answers, especially about the cost of the war,” he said.

“I am most concerned about the threat to American lives of potentially deploying our sons and daughters on the ground in Iraq. We seem to be on a path towards deploying American troops on the ground in Iran to accomplish any of the potential objectives.”

Senator Elizabeth Warren, meanwhile, said that the Trump administration “cannot explain the reasons that we entered this war, the goals we’re trying to accomplish and the methods for doing that”.

She also pointed to the high cost of the military operations against Iran, which some have estimated to exceed $5.6bn in the first two days alone.

Warren pointed out that Republicans cut healthcare subsidies last year in an effort to reduce federal spending, but appear to have no problem approving military expenses.

“While there is no money for 15 million Americans who lost their healthcare”, she noted, “there’s a billion dollars a day to spend on bombing Iran”.

While approached by reporters, Senator Jacky Rosen indicated she was limited in her ability to comment on classified briefings. Still, she offered brief remarks to voice her frustration.

“I can tell you what I heard is not just concerning. It is disturbing,” she said. “And I’m not sure what the end game is or what their plans are. They certainly have not made their case.”

‘On our timeline and at our choosing’

The latest round of criticism came shortly after US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth pledged to conduct the “most intense day” of strikes since the war began.

As of Tuesday, the war had killed at least 1,255 people in Iran, 394 people in Lebanon, 13 in Israel, six in Iraq and 14 across the Gulf.

Trump has repeatedly said the war would not be prolonged, but his officials have offered shifting timelines. Hegseth, for instance, said the fighting would not stop “until the enemy is totally and decisively defeated”.

“We do so on our timeline and at our choosing,” he said.

The Trump administration has also offered an array of justifications for launching the war, which came amid indirect talks with Iran on the future of its nuclear programme.

Trump has blamed Iran’s nuclear ambitions for the conflict, though Tehran has denied seeking a nuclear weapon, and his administration has also said the war was necessary to end Iran’s ballistic missile programme.

Experts have said that available evidence does not support the Trump administration’s claims that either posed an immediate threat to the US.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters last week that the US attacked because its close ally Israel had planned to attack Iran, which would have led to retaliation against US assets.

Rubio and Trump subsequently backed away from the circular rationale, with Trump claiming last week that Iran was the one planning to strike first.

Another  rationale the Trump administration offered is that the totality of Iran’s actions since the 1979 Islamic revolution represented a threat to the US, thereby necessitating an attack.

Trump and his top officials have not provided evidence for any of their claims.

Calls for hearings, investigation

Democrats have been largely sidelined since the war began. Only a handful of Republicans have joined the left-leaning party in its efforts to rein in Trump through legislative means.

Under the US Constitution, only Congress can declare war. But presidents can still use the military to respond to imminent threats in instances of self-defence.

Still, there are limits to how long such operations can proceed. Under the 1973 War Powers Resolution, presidents must withdraw forces within 60 to 90 days of an unauthorised military campaign, or else seek congressional approval.

Trump, however, has denied he needs congressional backing for the military campaigns he has conducted since returning to office.

The latest attacks in Iran have sparked widespread public opposition, with polls suggesting a majority of US citizens oppose the war effort.

Earlier this week, six Democratic senators called for an investigation into a strike on a girls’ school in Minab, in southern Iran. Several investigations have indicated that the US was responsible for the attack, which killed at least 170 people, mostly children.

Last week, nearly 30 members of Congress called for an investigation into reports that US military leaders had used biblical motivations to justify the war to subordinates.

Some reportedly invoked “religious prophecy and apocalyptic theology” in statements to other enlisted personnel.

On Monday, Senator Cory Booker said Democrats had “collectively agreed” to use an array of procedural mechanisms in the chamber to block legislative business until Trump officials agree to testify under oath.

“Each individual senator has a tremendous amount of power to disrupt the normal functioning of the Senate, as well as certain privileges that we can exercise,” Booker said.

“And what we have agreed right now is that we’re not going to let the Senate continue business as usual, which seems to be ignoring the urgent issues the American people are dealing with.”

The suspects, 18-year-old Emir Balat and 19-year-old Ibrahim Kayumi, allegedly told police that they aimed for the Saturday attack to be “even larger” than the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013 that left three dead.

New York police say the pair attempted to detonate two explosives outside Gracie Mansion, where Mayor Zohran Mamdani lives. Authorities found a third bomb in their car.

The incident happened during an anti-Islam protest. None of the explosives went off as intended.

Footage of the incident shows one of the suspects being detained just seconds after igniting one of the explosives, which did not detonate.

New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the two suspect had admitted to being inspired by IS and had watched IS propaganda videos. The two did not have any previous criminal history, she said.

They are facing charges, including attempting to provide material support to IS and using a weapon of mass destruction. It is unclear if the two defendants have lawyers.

“We were fortunate that the devices used this weekend did not cause the kind of harm that they were certainly capable of causing,” Tischsaid during a news conference on Monday. “But luck is never a strategy. Devices like these have the potential to cause devastating harm.”

Tisch said one of the defendants, Balat, made several statements about ISIS while being transported to the police station, including saying: “If I didn’t do it, someone else will come and do it”.

Later, she said, Balat allegedly said he hoped the attack would be “even bigger than the Boston Marathon bombing, which he noted resulted in only three deaths”.

That attack, which happened in 2013 as runners were crossing the finish line of the Boston Marathon, left three people dead and hundreds of runners and spectators injured, including many who lost limbs.

In a statement on Sunday, Mamdani called the anti-Islam protest “rooted in bigotry and racism” but said what followed was “even more disturbing”.

On Monday, he said in a subsequent statement that the two men charged “should be held fully accountable for their actions”.

“We will continue to keep New Yorkers safe. We will not tolerate terrorism or violence in our city.”

Tisch said the New York City Police Department (NYPD) remained vigilant in its counter-terrorism investigations and noted the heightened state of alert in the city and across the US due to the US-Israel war in Iran.

She thanked two of the officers who stepped forward “without hesitation and without regard for their own safety”, after the devices were lit.

Tisch said an analysis of one of the devices showed it was made of triacetone triperoxide – “a dangerous and highly volatile homemade explosive”. That material, she noted, has been used in other terror attacks and could have led to many deaths and injuries.

Tisch also said that officers had found a car in the city’s Upper East Side that was tied to the two suspects. The NYPD used a robot that found another explosive device inside that was “consistent with the first two explosive devices”.

In an earlier update, over the weekend, Tisch told reporters the protest outside the mayor’s residence was organised by Jake Lang, a far-right influencer and pardoned 6 January rioter. That group was outnumbered by the counter-protest, which had over 100 participants.

As the two groups clashed, video from the scene confirmed by CBS News, showed Balat throwing the first “ignited device”, which extinguished itself after striking a barrier.

Balat then retrieved a second device from Kayumi, lit it, and started running before later dropping it, Tisch said. In the updates provided on Monday, Mamdani said both devices had been thrown.

The devices were reportedly made from glass bottles filled with explosive material and surrounded by fragmentation, or nuts and bolts, with a firework-type fuse.

“The FBI and NYPD confirmed the suspicious items to be improvised explosive devices (IEDs)”, the FBI wrote on X.

“Additionally, the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) will be conducting interviews, reviewing videos, collecting evidence, and chasing down all leads.”

Police also arrested Ian McGuiness, 21, for allegedly using pepper spray on counter-protesters. He and three others were charged with disorderly conduct and obstruction.

Six lawmakers said in a joint statement late on Sunday that they are “horrified” by the bombing of the elementary school in Minab during the opening US-Israeli strikes against Iran on February 28.

“The  killing of school children is appalling and unacceptable under any circumstance,” said the senators who serve as the top Democrats on national security panels.

The push comes as new footage of the attack suggested that the site of the school was likely hit by a Tomahawk missile – a weapon used by the US that Israel and Iran do not possess.

The bombing of the elementary school in Minab has become emblematic of the growing civilian death toll from the conflict.

Iranian officials have said that US and Israeli strikes have damaged other schools as well as dozens of medical centres, residential buildings, street markets, a water desalination plant and other civilian targets.

US and Israeli attacks have killed 1,255 people – mostly civilians – in Iran since the start of the war, according to Deputy Health Minister Ali Jafarian.

“They were living in their homes or [were] at their workplace,” the health minister said.

In their statement, the US senators noted that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth has openly boasted about loosening the rules of engagement in the attacks against Iran to allow US forces to bomb the country with little restraint.

“Secretary  Hegseth needs to ensure the Department of Defense’s ongoing investigation into this strike is thorough, including whether any policy decisions may have contributed to the catastrophe, and provide clear answers to the American public and Congress about how and why this tragedy unfolded,” they said.

The legislators – who include Brian Schatz, Jeanne Shaheen, Jack Reed and Elizabeth Warren – said the “incident and any like it must be fully and impartially reviewed”.

Last week, Hegseth told reporters that US jets are unleashing the “most lethal” strikes on Iran with “maximum authorities”.

“No stupid rules of engagement, no nation-building quagmire, no democracy building exercise, no politically correct wars – we fight to win, and we don’t waste time or lives,” he said on March 2.

Days later, Hegseth emphasised that the rules of engagement are meant “to unleash American power, not shackle it”.

Despite mounting evidence and multiple visual investigations by news outlets suggesting that the strike on Minab was carried out with US weapons, US President Donald Trump has accused Iran of bombing the school.

“In my opinion and based on what I’ve seen, that was done by Iran,” Trump said last week.

For his part, Hegseth has stopped short of echoing the US president’s claim, stressing on multiple occasions over the past days that the Pentagon is investigating the incident.

US needs to stop focusing on denial’

Annie Shiel, US director at Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC), said there have been numerous incidents in recent years where the US “reflexively” denies civilian harm “only for investigations by the media, civil society, and the US military itself to prove otherwise”.

In 2021, the Pentagon initially denied killing civilians in a strike during the withdrawal in Afghanistan, calling the attack a “righteous” one that targeted ISIL (ISIS).

But weeks later, it acknowledged that the attack was a “tragic mistake” that killed 10 people, including seven children, after independent investigations confirmed the identities of the victims.

Shiel said the Trump administration is treating the “devastating” strike in Minab like a public relations issue.

“The US needs to stop focusing on denial and get to the truth about what happened and why through a thorough, transparent, independent investigation,” Shiel told Al Jazeera.

On Friday, United Nations experts condemned the Minab attack as a “grave assault on children”.

“An attack on a functioning school during class hours raises the most serious concerns under international law and must be urgently, independently, and effectively investigated, with accountability for any violations,” they said.

“There is no excuse for killing girls in a classroom.”

The devices – which were both ignited, and at least one of which was thrown – “could have caused serious injury or death”, New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.

The incident occurred after a group of anti-Islam protesters gathered outside Mamdani’s mayoral residence, Gracie Mansion, and clashed with a larger group of counter-protesters.

Two men who appeared agitated by the anti-Islam protesters have been arrested in connection with the devices.

The suspects were identified as 18-year-old Emir Balat and 19-year-old Ibrahim Kayumi, both from Pennsylvania.

“We were fortunate that the devices used this weekend did not cause the kind of harm that they were certainly capable of causing,” Tisch said during a news conference on Monday. “But luck is never a strategy. Devices like these have the potential to cause devastating harm.”

Tisch said the New York City Police Department (NYPD) remained vigilant in its counter-terrorism investigations and thanked two of the officers who stepped forward “without hesitation and without regard for their own safety”, after the devices were lit.

Tisch said an analysis of one of the devices showed it was made of triacetone triperoxide – “a dangerous and highly volatile homemade explosive”.

Tisch also said that officers had found a car in the city’s Upper East Side that was tied to the two suspects. The NYPD used a robot that found “another possible suspicious device and materials inside the car consistent with the first two explosive devices”.

The statement on Sunday came hours before Iranian state media reported that the Assembly of Experts had selected a new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the hours after the US and Israel launched a war on Iran on February 28.

Trump  did not immediately respond to the younger Khamenei’s selection, but broadly said earlier that any individual would need US approval. Iranian officials have denied that the Trump administration has had any influence on the decision.

“He’s going to have to get approval from us,” Trump told ABC News, referring to a possible new supreme leader. “If he doesn’t get approval from us, he’s not going to last long.”

Trump added that he did not want future administrations to have “to go back” in the years ahead, an apparent reference to future military action.

“I don’t want people to have to go back in five years and have to do the same thing again, or worse, let them have a nuclear weapon,” he said.

Officials in Iran, which has launched retaliatory attacks across the Middle East, have repeatedly rejected the notion of Washington asserting influence over the selection.

Earlier  on Sunday, Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Abbas Araghchi again said that “we will allow nobody to interfere in our domestic affairs”.

“This is up to the Iranian people to elect their new leader,” he said, adding that Iranians had elected the Assembly of Experts, the body that selects the supreme leader.

Mojtaba  Khamenei’s selection was announced shortly after the Pentagon confirmed that a seventh US soldier had died since the war began.

In a statement, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said the unidentified soldier had been wounded “at the scene of an attack on US troops in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on March 1”, and died on Saturday.

Further details were not immediately available.

Meanwhile, the death toll in Iran had risen to 1,332, with at least 11 people killed across the Gulf, and another 11 killed in Israel.

The US president has offered shifting justifications for the war, repeatedly pointing to Iran’s nuclear ambitions, its ballistic missile programme, as well as the totality of Iran’s actions in the region since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Critics, including the majority of Democratic US lawmakers, have said Trump has provided scant evidence to prove that Iran posed an immediate threat.

On  Sunday, Omani Minister of Foreign Affairs Badr Albusaidi, who had been overseeing indirect US-Iran talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme, again rejected US officials’ claims that Tehran had not entered into the negotiations in good faith.

Speaking during a ministerial meeting of the Arab League, Albusaidi said diplomatic initiatives seeking a “fair and honourable solution were making progress” when the US-Israeli attacks began.

He further warned that the region is facing “a dangerous turning point” as fighting escalates.

‘Short-term disruption’

Attacks from both sides appear to have widened, with the US and Israel for the first time striking oil storage and refining facilities in Tehran, and Iran launching more strikes across the Gulf, including a drone attack that caused material damage to a desalination plant in Bahrain.

Both Bloomberg and Axios have reported that the US and Israel have considered a special ground operation to seize Iran’s enriched uranium, with Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter telling CBS’s Face the Nation programme that securing the nuclear fuel is “on our radar screen, and we’re going to take care of it”.

“Large resources” were sent to the area at about 01:00 local time (midnight GMT), police said.

“The police are in dialogue with the embassy and no injuries have been reported,” the statement said.

“There is currently no information about exactly what happened or who may be involved,” police added.

Michael Dellemyr, who is leading the police response, told Norwegian broadcaster NRK the explosion was at the public entrance to the building.

The embassy sustained minor damage, media reports say.

The US embassy is located in the Morgedalsvegen district of Oslo, about 7km (four miles) outside the city centre.