Exiled prince Pahlavi urges US, Israel to spare Iran civilian infrastructure

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday the government has sufficient funds to finance the war against Iran but is seeking additional congressional funding to ensure future military readiness.

“We have plenty of money to fund this war. This is supplemental. President Trump has built up the military, as he did in his first term, as he is now doing in his second term, and he wants to make sure that the military is well supplied going forward,” Bessent said in an interview with NBC News.

Bessent ruled out any tax increases to fund the war.

Israel’s military said on Sunday it completed a wave of overnight strikes targeting weapons production sites and security headquarters in Tehran.

“The targets included … a military base used for training forces and maintaining missile systems … a weapons production and storage site belonging to the Ministry of Defense … and a weapons production site affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps aerospace force,” the Israeli military said in a statement on Sunday.

It added that it also struck a headquarters of Iran’s intelligence ministry and an emergency command center of the country’s law enforcement forces.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israel would send Iran “back decades” if it continues targeting cities, accusing Tehran of deliberately firing on civilian population centers.

“If this continues, we’ll be sure to hit Iran so hard it will be sent back decades,” Katz said while visiting the site of a missile strike in Arad that injured scores.

Katz said the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was “intentionally firing at population centers” to pressure the Israeli government to stop the war. “This won’t happen,” he said. “The home front is strong.”

Iran now has the capability to strike deep into Europe, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday, as he visited the site of a missile strike in the southern city of Arad.

Netanyahu said Iran had fired an intercontinental ballistic missile toward Diego Garcia and warned that its range puts European capitals within reach.

“They fired an intercontinental ballistic missile on Diego Garcia. That's 4,000 kilometers. I've been warning all the time. They have now the capacity to reach deep into Europe. They already have fired on European countries, Cyprus,” he said, adding that Iran is “putting everyone in their sights.”

He accused Iran of targeting civilian areas and religious sites in recent attacks and said the country is also disrupting global energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz.

“They fired on Jerusalem right next to the holy sites of the three monotheistic faiths, the Western Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, and the Al-Aqsa Mosque. And by dint of a miracle, again, none of them were hurt, but they were targeting the holy sites of the three major monotheistic religions.”

Netanyahu called on world leaders to join the United States and Israel in confronting Iran, saying the threat goes beyond the region and “is for the security of the entire world.”

Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref warned that any attack on the country’s infrastructure would cause a widespread blackout across the region.

Referring to Donald Trump’s warning of strikes on Iranian power plants if the Strait of Hormuz is not reopened, Aref said, “An attack on Iran’s infrastructure will create a widespread blackout in the region.”

He added that Iran’s right to self-defense remains intact and warned that those issuing threats would bear responsibility for the consequences.

Aref said Iran did not start the war but would not hesitate to defend itself, adding that Tehran would decide “when and how” the conflict ends.