We are going after the rest: Trump claims US sank 9 Iranian warships

Posting on his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote: “I have just been informed that we have destroyed and sunk 9 Iranian Naval Ships, some of them relatively large and important.”

“We are going after the rest — They will soon be floating at the bottom of the sea, also! In a different attack, we largely destroyed their Naval Headquarters. Other than that, their Navy is doing very well! PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP,” he added.

Trump’s remarks came hours after Iran confirmed that its Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in his office early Saturday during coordinated US-Israeli airstrikes.

Iran’s Red Crescent reported that more than 200 people were killed nationwide in the strikes. Iranian authorities said at least 108 fatalities occurred when airstrikes hit a girls’ school. State media also reported that members of Khamenei’s family were among those killed.

Following Khamenei’s death, Iran appointed Ayatollah Alireza Arafi to its interim leadership council.

Meanwhile, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed it had launched ballistic missile strikes against the US aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Gulf.

“The US aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln was struck by four ballistic missiles,” the Guards said in a statement carried by The Times of Israel.

In a separate post shared by the Iranian Consulate’s X account in Hyderabad, the IRGC warned that “the land and sea will increasingly become the graveyard of the terrorist aggressors.”

However, the US military rejected the claims. In a statement posted on X, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said: “Iran’s IRGC claims to have struck USS Abraham Lincoln with ballistic missiles. LIE.”

“The Lincoln was not hit. The missiles launched didn’t even come close. The Lincoln continues to launch aircraft in support of CENTCOM’s relentless campaign to defend the American people by eliminating threats from the Iranian regime,” the statement added.

In a separate update, CENTCOM confirmed that three US service members were killed in action and five others seriously wounded as part of Operation Epic Fury.

“Several others sustained minor shrapnel injuries and concussions and are in the process of being returned to duty. Major combat operations continue and our response effort is ongoing,” CENTCOM said.