"Defence Minister Israel Katz announced on Saturday that the IDF and US forces will intensify attacks on Iran, as the conflict with Tehran entered its fourth week. This comes in spite of comments made by US President Donald Trump on Friday evening that the US and Israel were "very close to meeting our objectives" and considering "winding down our major military efforts in Middle East." Speaking with military officials in Tel Aviv, the defence minister pointed to the need to 'decapitate' the Tehran leadership, through attacks on the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) which he stated is in control of the country. "The intensity of the strikes that the IDF and the US military will carry out against the Iranian terror regime and the infrastructure it relies on will significantly escalate, and the campaign led by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will continue," Katz remarked. "We are determined to continue leading the offensive against the Iranian terror regime [...] until every security threat to the State of Israel and to US interests in the region is removed," he underlined, adding, "the IDF is strong, and the Israeli home front is strong, and we will not stop until all war objectives are achieved." The statements came after a joint US-Israeli operation against Iranian targets started on February 28 amid diplomatic talks aimed at limiting Iran's nuclear and missile programmes. Tehran responded with strikes on Israel and US military positions in the region, with explosions reported across Gulf countries. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was confirmed dead on the first day, and his son Mojtaba Khamenei was later named as successor. The war also disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a route for about 20 percent of global oil, as Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned it could be restricted to allies, driving a global surge in oil prices."