A #MiddleEast-based maritime center overseen by the #US #military warned Sunday that there’s a “high” risk to US associated ships after the American strikes on #Iran #nuclear sites.

“The threat to US associated commercial shipping in the Red Sea & Gulf of Aden is currently assessed as HIGH,” the Joint Maritime Information Center, which is overseen by the US #Navy, wrote in an advisory to shippers.

#Trump Secretary of #Defense#PeteHegseth said Sunday that despite a surprise attack overnight on Iranian #nuclear sites, America “does not seek war.”

#Hegseth said it was important to note that #US strikes did not target Iranian troops or the Iranian people, a veiled effort to indicate to #Iran that they don’t want retaliation on American targets in the region.

#MiddleEast #war

#Hegseth said that a choice to move a number of B-2 bombers from their base in Missouri earlier Saturday was meant to be a decoy to throw off #Iran.

He added that the #US used other methods of deception as well, deploying fighters to protect the B-2 bombers that dropped 14 #BunkerBuster bombs on Iran’s most powerful #nuclear site. He said that all of these tactics helped the U.S. drop the bombs without tipping off Iran’s fighter jets or its air missile systems.

#Trump#MiddleEast #war

The #Trump admin said that its attack on 3 #Iran #nuclear facilities was not about toppling the country’s government.

“This mission was not and has not been about regime change,” #Defense Secretary #PeteHegseth said at a Sunday news briefing.

Air Force Gen. #DanCaine, the chairman of the #JointChiefs of Staff, stressed that the goal of “Operation Midnight Hammer” had destroyed the nuclear sites in #Fordow, #Natanz & #Isfahan.

In concluding his briefing, #PeteHegseth attempted to once again reiterate an unwillingness for America’s intervention in #Iran to turn into a protracted #war & labeled the overnight strikes as “intentionally limited.”

“I would just say, as the president has directed & made clear, this is most certainly not open-ended,”Hegseth said, adding that it doesn’t limit #US ability to respond & it will do so if necessary.

#Trump#MiddleEast