The U.S. and Israel launched a massive joint military attack early Saturday against Iran, as President Trump urged the Iranian people to “take over your government” and called on members of the Islamic republic’s military to immediately surrender or be killed.
The attack appears to be a U.S.-led attempt at regime change after decades of hardline Islamic rule in Tehran and represents the most sweeping American military operation in the Middle East since the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Iran responded quickly by firing waves of missiles at targets across the region, including Israel and U.S. bases in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and elsewhere across the Middle East.
Mr. Trump warned there could be American casualties from the operation, which is targeting key Iranian military sites and government sites, including a reported strike on the compound home of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in downtown Tehran. The 86-year-old’s whereabouts weren’t immediately clear.
“Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime,” Mr. Trump said in a video address posted to social media. “A vicious group of very hard, terrible people. Its menacing activities directly endanger the United States, our troops, our bases overseas, and our allies throughout the world.”
The president vowed, “We’re going to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground. It will be totally, again, obliterated. We’re going to annihilate their navy. We’re going to ensure that the region’s terrorist proxies can no longer destabilize the region or the world and attack our forces, and no longer use their IEDs, or roadside bombs … to so gravely wound and kill thousands and thousands of people, including many Americans. And we will ensure that Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon. It’s a very simple message.”
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Mr. Trump told members of the Iranian military and police forces to “lay down your weapons” or “face certain death.”
The operation effectively ends what had been an intense U.S. diplomatic campaign to pressure Iran into a new deal limiting its nuclear program. Key Trump administration officials met with an Iranian delegation on Thursday in Geneva, but the talks ended without an agreement.
The U.S. also wanted limits on Iran’s ballistic missile program and its support for violent proxy groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah.
Mr. Trump expressed dissatisfaction with the way those talks were unfolding and signaled that he was considering a major military strike.
There was no immediate comment from the Pentagon about the specifics of the operation, but the U.S. has moved significant numbers of warships, fighter jets and other assets into the Middle East in recent weeks.
In his own video address early Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Iran an “existential threat” and urged the Israeli people to show “patience and strength of spirit” in the face of what is expected to be an aggressive, prolonged Iranian counterattack.
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“Our joint operation will create the conditions for the brave Iranian people to take their fate into their own hands,” Mr. Netanyahu said. “The time has come for all parts of the Iranian people — the Persians, Kurds, Azeris, Baloch, and Ahwazis — to cast off the yoke of tyranny and bring freedom and peace-loving values to Iran.”
Sen. Roger Wicker, Mississippi Republican and chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Mr. Trump “took decisive action against the threat posed by the world’s leading proliferator of terrorism, the Iranian regime.”
“This is a pivotal and necessary operation to protect Americans and American interests,” Mr. Wicker said in a statement. “The president has stated the operation’s goals clearly: thwart permanently the ayatollahs’ desire to create a nuclear weapon, degrade their ballistic missile force and their production capacity, and destroy their naval and terrorism capabilities.”
He said, “These are the hardest decisions that face any American commander-in-chief, and I appreciate that President Trump and his team conducted a comprehensive strategy using all tools of national power and a well-orchestrated military planning process.”
Saturday’s operation marks the second time Mr. Trump has ordered strikes against Iran. Last June, the U.S. struck three key Iranian nuclear sites.
The president has insisted those strikes “obliterated” Tehran’s nuclear program, but both Mr. Trump and Mr. Netanyahu stressed Saturday that the latest operation is intended to prevent the country from acquiring an atomic bomb.
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said it responded by launching a “first wave” of drones and missiles targeting Israel.
Bahrain said that a missile attack targeted the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet headquarters in the island kingdom. Witnesses heard sirens and explosions in Kuwait, home to U.S. Army Central. Explosions could also be heard in Qatar.
Iraq and the United Arab Emirates closed their airspace, and sirens sounded in Jordan. Shrapnel from an attack on the capital of the UAE killed one person, state media said, the first known fatality in the Iranian counterattack.
The Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen, meanwhile, vowed to resume attacks on Red Sea shipping routes and on Israel, according to two senior Houthi officials.
The Iranian government indicated it is prepared for a lengthy war.
“Now the Iranian people are proud that they did everything necessary to prevent war. Now is the time to defend the homeland and confront the enemy’s military aggression,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted on X. “Just as we were ready for negotiations, we have been more prepared than ever for defense. The armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will respond to the aggressors with authority.”
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This article is based in part on wire service reports.
