WASHINGTON/DUBAI/CAIRO – The United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran on Saturday, plunging the Middle East into a new conflict that President Donald Trump said would end a security threat to the United States and offer Iranians a chance to topple their rulers.
Iran launched missiles towards Israel, Israel’s military said, and the Pentagon said the U.S. strikes against Iran were named “OPERATION EPIC FURY.”
The renewed confrontation between Iran and its long-time foes threatened to further dim hopes for a diplomatic solution to Tehran’s nuclear dispute with the West.
In a video message published on social media, Trumpcited Washington’s decades-long dispute with Iran, including the seizure of the 1979 U.S. embassy in Tehran, when students held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days, as well as a range of other attacks the U.S. has blamed on Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution brought the clerics to power.
He urged Iranians to stay sheltered because “bombs will be dropping everywhere”. But he also added: “When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will be probably your only chance for generations.”
The U.S. military initiated a series of strikes against targets in Iran, two U.S. officials told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity. The scope of the air and sea operations was not immediately clear. The campaign is expected to last for multiple days, said a U.S. official.
Iran was preparing a crushing retaliation, an Iranian official told Reuters.
Trump had built up a vast U.S. military presence in the region to try to force Tehran to make concessions in nuclear talks. He said the U.S. had launched a “massive and ongoing” operation against the Islamic Republic, vowing to ensure Tehran will not obtain a nuclear weapon.
