Hegseth warns ‘more casualties’ expected in Operation Epic Fury against Iran

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth warned that more casualties are expected in the ongoing Operation Epic Fury in Iran, with seven U.S. soldiers having been killed so far in the fighting.

Hegseth made the comment during an interview with CBS’ "60 Minutes" that aired on Sunday.

"The president's been right to say there will be casualties," Hegseth said. "Things like this don't happen without casualties."

"There will be more casualties," he continued. "And no one is — I mean, especially our generation knows what it's like to see Americans come home in caskets, it's — but that doesn't weaken us one bit. It stiffens our spine and our resolve to say this is a fight we will finish."

WATCH: CAPITOL HILL DEBATE ERUPTS OVER WHETHER TRUMP’S IRAN STRIKES AMOUNT TO ‘WAR’

Six U.S. service members were killed in a March 1 Iranian drone attack in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait, while supporting Operation Epic Fury. The U.S. military said a seventh service member died of injuries from an Iranian attack on troops in Saudi Arabia on March 1.

The U.S. and Israel last week launched joint strikes against Iran. Iran has retaliated, launching strikes against Israel and neighboring Gulf Arab states, including Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi on Sunday told NBC News’ "Meet the Press" that if the U.S. deploys ground troops in Iran, "we have very brave soldiers who are waiting for any enemy who enters into our soil, to fight with them and to kill them and destroy them."

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"We never give up, we never surrender, and we continue to resist as long as it takes," he said. "We continue to defend ourselves, and we are defending our territory, our people and our dignity. And our dignity is not for sale."

When reporters asked President Donald Trump aboard Air Force One on Saturday about potential ground troops being used in the Iran operation, the president said there would "have to be a very good reason."

"And I would say if we ever did that, [Iran] would be so decimated they wouldn't be able to fight at the ground level," Trump told reporters.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Private security firm helping Americans evacuate the Middle East amid war with Iran

As Americans are stranded in the Middle East amid the U.S. and Israel war with Iran, government and private agencies are working around the clock to conduct evacuations.

In addition to the U.S. Department of State's 24/7 task force aimed at evacuating Americans, private security firm Global Guardian is also working around the clock to complete the same mission.

As of Friday, Global Guardian has evacuated more than 4,000 people from the Middle East, according to its CEO and President, Dale Robert Buckner.

While operations and logistics teams sit in an office building in northern Virginia, the firm has personnel in more than 140 countries, allowing Global Guardian access to nearly every corner of the world for emergency response or evacuations.

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"We provide medical evac services, we provide kidnap, ransom, extortion negotiation payment if someone is kidnapped or extorted," Buckner said. "We're providing about 300 missions a month of executive protection travel, in about 84 countries a month."

The private security firm also conducts camera surveillance of residences and commercial property and has cyber analysts monitoring mobile devices. 

After the U.S. and Israel struck Iran in a joint attack last weekend, the firm has been coordinating multiple emergency response evacuations — but this isn't the first time it has assisted Americans out of a crisis zone.

"That means getting people out of Puerto Vallarta a week ago, and Jalisco, Mexico. That means getting people out of Asheville, North Carolina when it got wiped out by a hurricane," Buckner said. 

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Logistically, getting tourists out of a war zone and back to safety is a process, but the firm works fast, completing their first border crossing within the first six hours of the missile strikes.

Immediately, the firm received a call from a pair of students studying abroad, Deputy Vice President of Operations Colin O'Brien told Fox News. He said they were trying to leave Dubai.

"Within about four and a half hours from the phone call, we had our teams in motion to go pick these people up and it was two college-aged women," said O'Brien.

"Put them in the car, we were then able to move from the Omani border and by eight hours we were at the border. Work through the border checkpoint to a hotel in Muscat, where we could stop and give them a short rest while we arrange their transportation home," he says. 

The group said it remains active year-round to ensure evacuation plans are in place before disasters strike.

"There's a narrative of, here’s the pickup point, here’s the key crossing site," Buckner said. "This is what you’re gonna need from a paperwork standpoint, legally. And then we’re gonna put you in a hotel or straight onto a commercial flight. Most likely, at this point in the war, we’re gonna put you on a private charter."

WHAT'S NEXT IN OPERATION EPIC FURY

Buckner said most of these missions happening in the region are ground movement, done by locals. He says in the 140 countries the firm is in, they have ground teams working year-round. Consistently training year-round. 

"We're communicating, we're coordinating, we're executing. Executive protection agents, armed agents, armed vehicles, large-scale event support with medical and security personnel," he said, describing the firm's standard operating capabilities.

"We're coordinating whether the firm needs drivers. From Dubai to Oman, Israel to either Oman, Jordan or Egypt. Out of Bahrain into Saudi Arabia," Buckner said.

While the firm is coordinating with the State Department, it said it has not yet conducted a flight mission on behalf of the department.

Global Guardian offers these services through what it calls a "Duty of Care Membership," which Buckner said costs $15,000 per year for a family of five.

"You are going to sign a contract — whether it's a family, a family office or typically a large corporate logo. Then we become, at your beck and call," Buckner said, describing the emergency response services included in the agreement.

For Americans currently stuck in the Middle East, Buckner said the cost of evacuation using ground and air resources varies depending on the situation and location.

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Iran’s last line of resistance holds back — but Houthi terror group warns it’s ready to act

The Iran-backed Houthi terrorist movement has yet to enter the conflict on Iran's side but in recent days has been ratcheting up its rhetoric in support of Tehran, with its leader, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, declaring that it was prepared to enter the war against the U.S. and Israel if necessary.

"Regarding military escalation and action, our fingers are on the trigger, ready to respond at any moment should developments warrant it," al-Houthi said on Thursday.

"The reason why the Houthis have not intervened is they are last line of resistance for the axis. Especially after other axis members were degraded," Nadwa Al-Dawsari, an expert on Yemen and an associate fellow at the Middle East Institute, told Fox News Digital.

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The official slogan of the Houthi movement (Ansar Allah) reads, "Allah is Greater. Death to America. Death to Israel. Curse on the Jews. Victory to Islam." 

Al-Dawsari, who has written extensively about Yemen and the Houthis, said: "I think the Houthis will intervene at some point. The longer the war continues, the more likely the Houthis will intervene. I think what the Houthis want to do — and they have been itching for a while to do — is to attack the Saudis. If the Saudis intervene, the Houthis will find a reason to attack the Saudis."

HEGSETH BLASTS BRITS, SAYS IRAN'S CHAOTIC RETALIATION HAS DRIVEN ITS OWN ALLIES 'INTO THE AMERICAN ORBIT'

The Islamic Republic of Iran formed an "Axis of Resistance" prior to Hamas’ invasion of Israel on October 7, 2023. Iran’s axis coalition of Shiite and Sunni terrorist proxies, includes the Lebanon-based Hezbollah, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis, Shiite militias in Iraq, and the now-defunct Baathist regime in Syria.

Within the first few weeks of his administration, President Biden launched a reset with the Houthis and pressured the Saudis to end the war against the bellicose Houthi movement. "The war in Yemen must end," Biden declared in his first major foreign policy speech about the Mideast in February 2021.

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Biden’s reversal of American support for the Saudi-led allies in their war against the Houthis was also coupled with his administration de-listing the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization. President Donald Trump swiftly reimposed the terrorist designation for the Houthis at the start of his second term and launched military strikes against the terrorists in Yemen.

Al-Dawsari also said that another reason why the Houthis have yet to join the conflict is that it's not in the interests of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) "to drag the Houthis into a suicidal war." She argues that "If the Iranian regime collapses, and if a new regime emerges, I think the IRGC will regroup in Yemen or Somalia. Yemen is the key ally."

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There has been discussion between the IRGC and Houthis about why the "Houthis' continued existence is of strategic importance to the IRGC," she said.

"The IRGC can’t afford to lose the Houthis. Yemen is so important to them. They need to preserve the Houthis for tomorrow for the IRGC to continue even after the regime," Al-Dawsari continued.

She noted that "Houthis have established themselves in the Horn of Africa. The IRGC is behind the Houthis. Intervention might be symbolic by the Houthis." She continued that Iran's "tactic now is to prolong the war and widen it across the region and to put more pressure on the U.S." 

In May 2025, Trump announced that the U.S. would stop its air bombing campaign against the Houthis because, he said, the Houthis "don't want to fight."

"They just don't want to, and we will honor that. We will stop the bombings," Trump said. The Houthis had launched attacks against commercial vessels in the Red Sea, as well as the Jewish state, to support their ally Hamas in Gaza.

Al-Dawsari said after the Trump announcement the Houthis did not attack American ships." They know Trump does not joke. They know they will suffer consequences."

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'Loud bang,' damage reported at US Embassy in Norway; police investigating

Norwegian police are investigating an apparent explosion at the U.S. Embassy in Oslo that caused no injuries and only minor damage.

Amid the war on Iran, the Norwegian Justice Minister Astri Aas-Hansen is deploying "considerable resources" to search for potential multiple perpetrators.

"This is an unacceptable incident that we are taking very seriously," she told Norwegian press agency NTB.

A "loud bang" was reported at the U.S. embassy in Oslo early Sunday morning at 1 a.m. local time (Saturday 7 p.m. ET), according to police, and eyewitnesses told Reuters that they saw thick smoke by the entrance of the consular section.

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"There was a very thick layer of smoke on the street," said Sebastian Toerstad, 18, a high school student who drove past the embassy at the time of the explosion.

"There was some damage to the entrance."

No explosive devices had been found in the area, according to police.

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"Investigations have been carried out at the scene with the aid of dogs, drones and a helicopter, searching for one or more potential perpetrators," the Oslo police department said in a statement.

PST, the Norwegian police security service, called in additional personnel following the incident but has not changed the country's terror threat level, according to communication adviser Martin Bernsen.

PST operations manager Mikael Dellemyr does not "connect" the attack to U.S. bombings in the Middle East or terrorist or Iranian retaliation.

"It is far too early" in the investigation, he told Oslo's TV 2.

Fox News Digital reached out to the State Department for comment, but they did not immediately respond.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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King Charles to address 'increasing pressures of conflict' in speech as Trump criticizes British PM on Iran

King Charles III will reflect on "the increasing pressures of conflict" across the world in a "time of great challenge" during a speech planned for Monday, according to multiple reports. 

"We join together on this Commonwealth Day at a time of great challenge and great possibility," a preview of the 77-year-old’s Commonwealth Day speech says.

The king's speech continued: "Across our world, communities and nations face the increasing pressures of conflict, climate change and rapid transformation. Yet it is often in such testing moments that the enduring spirit of the Commonwealth is most clearly revealed."

The speech will come a little more than a week after the U.S. and Israel launched coordinated strikes against Iran, which British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the United Kingdom didn’t take part in for the sake of their national interest.

"This is not Winston Churchill we are dealing with," President Donald Trump said earlier this week in a criticism of Starmer amid a perceived lack of support for the U.S. and Israel’s joint military operation against Iran.

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"By the way, I’m not happy with the U.K. either," the president said, referring to Starmer blocking the United States’ use of U.K. bases to launch attacks on Iran.

Britain has since allowed the U.S. to use its bases in the region for defensive purposes against Iran’s retaliatory strikes. It has also mobilized fighter jets and plans to send a destroyer and possibly an aircraft carrier. 

The president referenced the Chagos Islands Tuesday, which are British territories in the Indian Ocean, saying it has taken "three, four days for us to work out where we can land there."

"It would have been much more convenient landing there as opposed to flying many extra hours, so we are very surprised," he said.

Later, the president said the United Kingdom has been "very, very uncooperative with that stupid island." 

"It’s a shame," Trump said. "That country, the U.K., and I love that country, I love it."

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"This is not the age of Churchill," he added.

Trump slammed Starmer again on Saturday, accusing the prime minister of joining the war after the U.S. had "already won."

"The United Kingdom, our once Great Ally, maybe the Greatest of them all, is finally giving serious thought to sending two aircraft carriers to the Middle East," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "That’s OK, Prime Minister Starmer, we don’t need them any longer – But we will remember. We don’t need people that join Wars after we’ve already won!"

Starmer has defended his decision to stay out of the conflict, saying the U.K. was "not involved in the ​initial strikes against Iran, and we will not join offensive action now."

"But in the face of Iran's barrage of missiles and ⁠drones, we will protect our people in the region," Starmer said in an address Monday to Parliament. "President Trump has expressed his disagreement with our decision not to get involved in the ​initial strikes, but it is my duty to judge what is in Britain's national interest. That is what I’ve done, and I stand by it."

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The king and other senior royals will gather at Westminster Abbey on Monday for the annual Commonwealth Day celebration, which recognizes the 56 countries voluntarily connected to the U.K., many of which were once part of the British Empire.

The preview of the speech continues: "Working together, we can ensure that the Commonwealth continues to stand as a force for good — grounded in community, committed to the kind of restorative sustainability that has a return on investment, enriched by culture, steadfast in its care for our planet, and united in friendship and in the service of its people."

Charles’ speech at the abbey will also be the largest gathering of the royal family since former Prince Andrew was arrested on Feb. 19.

Fox News' Brooke Singman contributed to this report. 

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Russian missile strike kills 10 in Ukraine as Trump says 'hatred' between countries complicating peace deal

A Russian ballistic missile strike on a residential building in Kharkiv, Ukraine, killed at least 10 people, including two children, and wounded 16 others Saturday, officials said.

The strike was part of a broader overnight assault in which Russia launched 29 missiles and 480 drones targeting Ukrainian energy infrastructure, with damage reported in Kyiv and at seven other locations across the country, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Zelenskyy called for an international response following the attack.

"There must be a response from partners to these savage strikes against life. I thank everyone who will not remain silent. Russia has not abandoned its attempts to destroy Ukraine’s residential and critical infrastructure, and therefore support must continue," he said in a post on X.

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"We count on active work with the European Union to guarantee greater protection for our people," he added. "I am grateful to everyone who helps strengthen our protection."

Preliminary Ukrainian data showed air defense systems downed 19 missiles and 453 drones, while nine missiles and 26 strike drones hit 22 locations.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said the strikes targeted Ukrainian military factories, energy facilities and air bases.

TRUMP SAYS 'HATRED' BETWEEN PUTIN, ZELENSKYY BLOCKING UKRAINE PEACE DEAL

Speaking Saturday at the Shield of the Americas Summit in Doral, Florida, President Donald Trump said the "hatred" between Russia and Ukraine was complicating efforts to reach a peace deal.

"It's so great that, you know, Ukraine, Russia, you'd think there would be a little bit of camaraderie, [but] there’s not. And the hatred is so great. It's very hard for them to get there. It's very, very hard to get there. So we'll see what happens," Trump said. "But we've been close a lot of times and one or the other would back out." 

"But we're losing, you know, they're losing, you know, doesn't really affect us very much because we've got an ocean separating. I'm doing it as a favor to Europe, and I'm doing it as a favor to life because they're losing 25,000 souls," Trump added. "Think of that every month. 25,000. Last month, 31,000.  Both sides, 31,000 people died, mostly soldiers."

Last month, Zelenskyy told Fox News that Russia is trying "to play with the president of the United States" and stalling U.S.-brokered efforts to end the war.

Fox News Digital's Greg Norman-Diamond and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Iran warns European countries will be 'legitimate targets' if they join conflict

An Iranian official warned that any European countries that enter the conflict against Iran will become "legitimate targets" for Tehran’s retaliation. 

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi made the remark to France24 as Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Saturday apologized to neighboring countries that have been attacked by the regime. 

"We have already informed the Europeans and everybody else that they should be careful not to be involved in this war of aggression against Iran," Takht-Ravanchi told the network. "If they help, I'm not trying to name any country, but if any country joins in the aggression against Iran, joins America and Israel in the aggression against Iran, definitely they will be also the legitimate targets for Iranian retaliation." 

"This war has imposed on us, and we will continue to defend ourselves to the best of our abilities," he added. "We have an obligation to defend our people and that is what exactly we are doing."

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Takht-Ravanchi also claimed Iran was "negotiating in good faith" in talks with the U.S. about its nuclear program, before America launched Operation Epic Fury and Israel began Operation Roaring Lion on Feb. 28. 

"We are sincere. We are sincere in our endeavor to arrive at a peaceful conclusion of this issue," he told France24. 

AFTER THE STRIKES, HOW WOULD THE US SECURE IRAN'S ENRICHED URANIUM?

Pezeshkian said Saturday that any future attacks coming out of Iran would only be in response to attacks against the country. 

"I should apologize to the neighboring countries that were attacked by Iran, on my own behalf," he said, according to The Associated Press. "From now on, they should not attack neighboring countries or fire missiles at them, unless we are attacked by those countries. I think we should solve this through diplomacy."

Pezeshkian made the apology during a prerecorded televised speech on Saturday after Iran launched repeated strikes on Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Oman. 

Despite the vow, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Ministry of Defense said on Saturday that the country's air defense systems intercepted 16 ballistic missiles, 15 of which were destroyed while one fell into the sea.

Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Pritchett and The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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