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President Donald Trump said on Sunday that there will “likely be more” US casualties in the days ahead, as he plans to continue operations in Iran.
Three US service members were killed in Kuwait in a retaliatory strike from Iran after joint US-Israeli attacks. At least five soldiers were wounded.
“As one nation, we grieve for the patriots who gave the ultimate sacrifice for this nation,” Mr Trump said in a recorded video message from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, where he has been since the US-Israeli attack on Iran began on Saturday.
Iran has continued to attack countries throughout the Middle East that contain US military bases.
In his address, posted to Truth Social, Mr Trump also encouraged Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps members to put down their weapons and defect.
He also seemed to acknowledge polling that indicates limited US patience for a prolonged military conflict. He called the US operation in Iran “one of the most complex” ever, adding that that the US has hit hundreds of targets including IRGC bases, air defence systems and nine naval vessels "all within minutes".
The President also spoke of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the Saturday strikes, calling him a “wretched and vile man” and claiming that he was responsible for the deaths of “hundreds and even thousands” of Americans.
Mr Trump claimed that since the strikes began, Iran’s entire military command has been eliminated, but added that US combat operations would continue.
Shortly after his speech was released, he boarded Air Force One for a flight to Washington.
Mr Trump is likely to face opposition from Democrats and some Republicans in Congress who demand to know why the US President did not get congressional approval before striking Iran.
Democratic members of Congress on Sunday said that they would push for a formal vote in the days ahead that would block the President from carrying out more strikes, although they probably do not have enough bipartisan support to get such legislation passed.
"I can understand Trump taking a bold gamble but I disagree with this gamble at this moment," Democratic Senator Chris Coons told CNN's State of the Union a few hours before Mr Trump's video statement was released.
The Democratic senator also said that the Trump White House would be ill-advised to compare this particular military endeavour to previous US military actions.
"It [Iran] lacks the internal divisions that were so prevalent both in Venezuela and Iraq," he said.
But Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a long-time Iran hawk, voiced strong support for Mr Trump's decision.
"The largest state sponsor of terrorism, Iran, is close to collapsing," he told NBC. "The leader of the largest state sponsor of terrorism … is dead."
