CHICAGO (WLS) — Governor JB Pritzker participated in a briefing alongside other American governors on Sunday led by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in light of increasing tensions in the Middle East.
On Monday, Iran launched missiles at a U.S. base in Qatar following continued strikes between Israel and Iran overnight, occurring a day after Operation Midnight Hammer.
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Homeland Security and the FBI are warning state and local officials that the strikes have “raised the threat environment.”
Pritzker said on X that he’s keeping a close eye and is in consultation with federal authorities.
But there are no known local threats at this time.
There are major questions about how much of Iran’s nuclear program was destroyed in Saturday’s attack.
President Donald Trump says the facilities were “obliterated.”
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff says it’s too early to tell the full scope.
“Determining the final battle damage will require some time, but initial assessments indicate that all three locations suffered extremely severe damage and destruction,” said Gen. Dan Caine.
Satellite imagery shows the damage to the three nuclear facilities targeted in the attack.
The Trump administration has said the Fordow facility, built underground, was a key target.
That’s where the 30,000-pound “bunker buster bombs” were dropped.
From the sky, the only damage that can be seen are the holes the bombs created, when they dug into the ground before exploding.
“We really can’t know what went on underneath the ground in Fordow. The president called it a monumental success, but it all happened 200 feet down, and we can’t see with satellites,” Col. Steve Ganyard said.
Israel and Iran traded missile attacks Monday.
In one video circulating online, a large blast can be seen at the site of an electrical substation in Israel.
It comes as President Trump floated the idea of a regime change in Iran.
Trump posted online, “If the current Iranian regime is unable to make Iran great again, why wouldn’t there be a regime change?”
The vice president has said that’s not their goal.
“Well first of all, we don’t want to achieve regime change; we want to achieve the end of the Iranian nuclear program,” JD Vance said.
“If they refuse to engage in diplomacy moving forward, why shouldn’t the Iranian people rise up against this brutal terrorist regime? That’s a question the president raised last night,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday morning.
Locally, organizations who oppose U.S. involvement said there’s a planned anti-war protest at 5 p.m. Monday at Federal Plaza.
Dr. Louis Kraus, who leads Rush’s child and adolescent psychiatry efforts, said it’s normal to feel anxious or fearful amid escalating tensions in the Middle East.
How to process fear and anxiety amid escalating tension in the Middle East.
He gave some tips Monday on how to process these “out of our control” events.
Kraus said it’s important not to show anxiety to children, wait for them to bring up concerns and offer them assurance everything will be OK.
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