Israel warned civilians to evacuate the Hakimiya Industrial Zone and the area around Payam Airport in Karaj, where they were striking military targets. 

The announcement followed an overnight barrage that the Israelis said had destroyed key government and security compounds in Tehran.

Multiple US embassies across the region were on high alert after attacks on consulates in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. The State Department ordered the evacuation of non-emergency personnel and family in Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Qatar, Jordan and the UAE. 

No senior member of the administration appeared publicly over the weekend as Trump addressed the nation on two separate occasions, outlining the mission to wipe out Iran's leadership and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as he encouraged regime change.

The President initially stated that the war would last four to five weeks, but he has since warned it could go on 'far longer', striking a more maximalist position than before, saying that 'the big wave hasn't even happened' and swatting away Iran's requests for peace talks. 'Too late,' he posted on Truth Social.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in an astonishing statement on Capitol Hill after briefing lawmakers, appeared to admit that Israel had forced America's hand.

'We knew that there was going to be an Israeli action. We knew that that would precipitate an attack against American forces. And we knew that if we didn't preemptively go after them before they launched those attacks, we would suffer higher casualties,' he told reporters on Monday. 

JD Vance said in an interview on Fox News on Monday night that the aim was to ensure 'Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon'. He claimed that there is 'just no way that Donald Trump is going to allow this country to get into a multiyear conflict with no clear end in sight and no clear objective.' 

Further clouding the picture, a White House official told the Daily Mail on Tuesday that there were three aims: Destroy the threat posed by Iran's ballistic missiles, its missile industry and its Navy. Neither Iran's nuclear facilities nor regime change were mentioned. 

Trump is facing a growing backlash from top conservative pundits, including Megyn Kelly and Tucker Carlson.

'There is nothing unpatriotic or unsupportive of one's conservatism or general adherence to MAGA-type principles to say, "I would like to be better convinced that this is worth the sacrifice of American blood and treasure,"' Kelly said on her show.

Carlson said: 'This is Israel's war. This is not the United States's war. This war is not being waged on behalf of American national security objectives, to make the United States safer or richer... This war is waged purely because Israel wanted it to be waged.'