WASHINGTON, March 9 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that the U.S.-Israeli military strikes against Iran would be over "very soon."
When asked whether the strikes could be over this week at a press conference in Florida, Trump said no.
"But soon. Very soon," he said. (US-Trump-Iran)
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MOSCOW, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday evening, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said.
"President Trump called President Putin to discuss a number of critically important topics related to current developments in the international situation," Ushakov told the media following the phone conversation. (Putin-Trump-Talks)
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JERUSALEM -- Israel's military has killed about 1,900 Iranian soldiers and commanders since the start of the conflict, military spokesman Effie Defrin said on Monday, adding that Israel did not rule out targeting Iran's newly announced supreme leader.
Speaking at a press briefing, Defrin also confirmed that a second person was killed earlier on Monday in an Iranian missile attack in Israel, bringing the total death toll from Iranian attacks in the country to 12 civilians, in addition to two soldiers killed in combat with Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. (Israel-Iran-Strikes)
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SEOUL -- South Korea and the United States on Monday kicked off their annual Freedom Shield (FS) joint military exercises, drawing protests from civic groups in Seoul who warned the drills could heighten regional tensions and undermine peace on the Korean Peninsula.
The exercise, scheduled to run for 11 days through March 19, includes 22 field training drills involving actual troop maneuvers, according to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff. Seoul and Washington have described the exercise as defensive in nature, but critics say the large-scale war games escalate confrontation in the region. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea has long denounced the drills as rehearsals for an invasion. (South Korea-US-Military Exercises) ■
