The United States and Israel launched a sweeping military assault on Iran early Saturday, striking targets in Tehran and across the country in an operation that President Donald Trump said aims to eliminate Iran’s nuclear program, cripple its armed forces and open the way for a change in government.
Large explosions shook the Iranian capital, with witnesses reporting smoke rising from districts that include key government compounds. The New York Times reported that dozens of U.S. strikes were carried out by attack aircraft from regional bases and aircraft carriers, initially focusing on military assets. Israeli officials briefed on the operation said the campaign also targeted members of Iran’s leadership.
In an eight-minute video posted by the White House early Saturday, Trump said, “A short time ago, the United States military began major combat operations in Iran. Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating eminent threats from the Iranian regime.”
Calling Iran “the world’s number one state sponsor of terror,” Trump vowed that the “massive and ongoing operation” would go beyond last year’s strikes on nuclear facilities.
“We are going to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground,” he said. “We’re going to annihilate their Navy.” He added that Iran “will never have a nuclear weapon.”
According to the New York Times, satellite imagery showed heavy damage and smoke at the compound of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, though his whereabouts were unclear. Iranian officials vowed “crushing retaliation,” raising fears of a broader regional war.
Within hours of the initial strikes, Iran fired waves of ballistic missiles toward Israel, triggering air defense responses. Several Arab states that host U.S. military bases — including the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait — reported coming under attack, as did Jordan. The Emirates said at least one person was killed by falling debris from an Iranian missile, the Times reported.
Trump framed the assault as both a defensive action and an opportunity for Iranians to overthrow their government.
“To the great proud people of Iran, I say tonight that the hour of your freedom is at hand,” he said, urging civilians to remain indoors as “bombs will be dropping everywhere.” “When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will be probably your only chance for generations.”
The president also addressed Iran’s security forces directly, warning members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and police to “lay down your weapons and have complete immunity, or … face certain death.”
The assault follows weeks of escalating tension. Trump had threatened military action while demanding that Tehran abandon its nuclear ambitions. U.S. and Iranian officials held mediated talks as recently as Thursday, but those discussions ended without a breakthrough.
The latest confrontation builds on last June’s 12-day war between Israel and Iran, during which the United States bombed Iranian nuclear facilities at Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan. At the time, Trump said the program had been “obliterated,” though subsequent assessments indicated it had been significantly degraded but may not have been fully destroyed.
In Saturday’s address, Trump referenced those earlier strikes, saying that in “Operation Midnight Hammer last June, we obliterated the regime’s nuclear program” and had warned Tehran not to resume its efforts.
Analysts cautioned that the new campaign risks spiraling into a prolonged regional conflict with no clear exit strategy. Iran has long relied on proxy militias across Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen, and Trump acknowledged that U.S. forces could face casualties.
“The lives of courageous American heroes may be lost and we may have casualties that often happens in war,” he said, calling the mission “noble”.
The fighting comes amid years of internal unrest in Iran. In previous coverage, Christian Daily International reported on the recent brutal government crackdown on anti-regime protests, with rights groups alleging thousands were killed and Iranian Christians abroad describing fear, isolation and uncertainty as unrest deepened.
Trump alluded to that unrest Saturday, asserting that the regime had “just recently killed tens of thousands of its own citizens on the street as they protested.”
As explosions echoed in Tehran and missiles streaked across regional skies, governments across the Middle East are bracing for further escalation. The scale of Saturday’s assault — and Iran’s vowed retaliation — leaves open the possibility of a widening war that could reshape the balance of power in the region.
