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The Associated Press

Trump gave U.S. Military officials the signal to go forward with the Iran operation on Friday afternoon when he was aboard Air Force One heading to Texas. Also on board: Sen. Ted Cruz, Sen, John Cornyn and actor Dennis Quaid.

Gen. Caine said that the president gave the go-ahead at 3:38 p.m. EST.

The United Arab Emirates has long branded itself as a safe and stable anchor in a turbulent region. Now, the conflict is rattling that image, and business confidence, in ways not seen since the pandemic.

Boardrooms in Dubai are mostly empty as authorities urge remote work and airspace closures ground flights at both Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Executives and investors who normally flow through the Gulf's transit hubs are stranded abroad.

The timing isn't helping. The Iranian strikes are arriving during Ramadan, when evening iftars and late-night suhoors double as networking opportunities. With high-profile gatherings cancelled, businesses say a crucial season for deal-making is being lost.

Businesses also worry that any dent in the U.A.E.'s reputation for security, long a magnet for tourists, could have longer-term economic fallout.

The Associated Press

Trump, in an interview Sunday with The New York Times, said the assault could last "four to five weeks."

Hegseth dismissed questions about the time frame and said, "President Trump has all the latitude in the world to talk about how long it may or may not take. Four weeks, two weeks, six weeks. It could move up. It could move back."

Asked if there are currently any U.S. Boots on the ground in Iran, Hegseth says no.

He also said "it's foolishness" to go into detail about what it will and will not do.

"We'll go as far as we need to go to advance American interests, but we're not dumb about it. You don't have to roll 200,000 people in there and stay for 20 years."

Asked how long this operation is expected to last, Hegseth said he "would never hang a time frame" on this operation.

"It won't happen overnight. This is a big battle space."

Hegseth also acknowledged that Iran has long-range strike capabilities.

"Even before this build-up, in the last 30 days, we discreetly brought defensive assets in, understanding that there are Iranian capabilities."

U.S. Gen. Dan Caine, the ‌chairman of the ​Joint Chiefs of ​Staff, said ​it would take ⁠time ⁠to ‌achieve military objectives in Iran ⁠and additional U.S. Casualties were expected.

"We are now roughly 57 hours into the operation," he said. "This is not a single overnight operation," Caine said at the news conference.

Caine said ‌the U.S. Continues to ​send ⁠additional troops to ⁠Middle ⁠East ⁠even after ​a massive military ​buildup.

Hegseth said ​that military ​operations against Iran would not ​lead to ⁠an "endless ⁠war" ‌and that the aim was ⁠to destroy Tehran's missiles, navy ‌and other security infrastructure.

"We're hitting them surgically, ​overwhelmingly ⁠and unapologetically," he said.

"War is hell and always will be," Hegseth said, adding that the U.S. Will "finish this on America-first conditions."

Hegseth repeated what Trump has said: there will be U.S. Casualties in this operation.

"This is not a so-called regime change, but the regime sure did change," Hegseth said.

U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth is speaking now. You can watch the news conference in the video above.

I'm Crystal Goomansingh reporting from the central Israeli town of Beit Shemesh. Nine people were killed and 28 wounded here on Sunday, after an Iranian missile made a direct hit on a synagogue and shelter as people gathered during a security alert. 

Mourners at a funeral service at the site briefly had to take shelter again on Monday, as sirens sounded and explosions were heard. 

There are some religious study books mixed into the ground. We spoke to one of the search and rescue team members, who was in the area at the time of the attack. He described a scene of fire and chaos and a lot of people who needed help.  

He recorded a video on his phone that captured that massive boom when the missile struck. 

This location has also been visited today by a number of politicians, including the head of the opposition and Israeli President Isaac Herzog. They are expressing sympathy to the families in mourning for the lives already lost. The dead include a number of children.

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