By Tom Ozimek
Contributing Writer
The United States and Israel launched coordinated strikes on Iran early Saturday after a third round of U.S.-Iran nuclear talks ended without a breakthrough.
President Donald Trump announced in a video message that “major combat operations” had begun and warned that the conflict could bring American casualties.
Trump said the objective is to eliminate “imminent threats” from Iran’s leadership and ensure Tehran “can never have a nuclear weapon.” He accused the Islamic Republic of trying to rebuild its nuclear program and expand missile capabilities after earlier U.S. strikes on key sites last year.
“A short time ago, the United States military began major combat operations in Iran,” Trump said in a video address. “Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime.”
In the same remarks, Trump acknowledged risks to U.S. forces, describing the action as necessary for the future of America’s national security.
“We pray for every service member as they selflessly risk their lives to ensure that Americans and our children will never be threatened by a nuclear-armed Iran,” he said. “We ask God to protect all of our heroes in harm’s way. And we trust that with his help, the men and women of the armed forces will prevail.”
Iran’s Foreign Ministry condemned the strikes as a violation of the U.N. Charter and an act of “criminal armed aggression,” saying in a statement that Tehran would respond and urging international action.
Iran’s Supreme Security Council confirmed retaliatory strikes, while the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it launched drones and missiles at Israel and later struck multiple U.S. and regional facilities.
Israel’s military said it was intercepting Iranian missiles while continuing to strike targets inside Iran, describing ongoing operations based on “precise intelligence.”
“The IDF [Israel Defense Forces] and the U.S Armed Forces have launched a broad and joint operation to thoroughly degrade the Iranian terrorist regime and to remove existential threats to Israel over time,“ the IDF said in a statement on social media, describing the Iranian regime as posing an ”existential threat” to both Israel and the world as a whole.
Operation Aims, Per Trump and Netanyahu
Trump described the strikes as a sweeping campaign against Iran’s military capabilities and regional network, listing grievances dating back to the 1979 hostage crisis, attacks attributed to Iranian proxies, and Tehran’s support for armed groups.
He said the United States intends to destroy Iran’s missile industry, “annihilate” its navy, and weaken armed proxies across the region, while again insisting Iran must be prevented from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
Trump also issued a direct appeal to Iran’s security forces, telling members of the IRGC and police to lay down arms and claiming they would receive “complete immunity,” while warning of “certain death” if they refused. He urged Iranian civilians to shelter in place and called on the public to seize their government after the strikes conclude.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement following the launch of the strikes, echoing Trump’s goal of creating conditions for Iranians to “take their fate into their own hands.”
“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,” he said in a video address.
Netanyahu described the effort as a planned, coordinated joint operation with the United States, aiming to “remove the existential threat posed by the terrorist regime in Iran.”
Iran, for its part, said the attacks hit “defense infrastructures and civilian sites” in multiple cities, calling the strikes a breach of sovereignty and citing Article 51 of the U.N. Charter to justify retaliation.
Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported that an Israeli-U.S. strike on a girls’ school in southern Iran left at least 40 people killed and another 45 wounded. The city of Minab, where the girls’ school is located, is also the site of an IRGC base.
Iran’s foreign ministry said in a statement that, “the Islamic Republic of Iran will use all their might and resources to confront this criminal aggression and repel the enemy’s evil act.”
Iran’s Response: Missiles, Drones, Regional Spillover
Iran’s IRGC said it launched a “first wave” of drones and missiles targeting Israel, signaling more to come.
The Israeli military said missiles were launched from Iran toward Israeli territory and that air defenses were operating to intercept the threat, while warning that “the defense is not hermetic.”
In subsequent retaliation, Iran said it struck several facilities in the region in an operation it called “Truthful Promise 4,” claiming in a statement that it hit the command of the U.S. Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, U.S. bases in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, and military targets in Israel.
Regional governments reported defensive actions and disruptions.
Qatar’s defense ministry said it shot down several missiles and later said it repelled a third wave of Iranian missiles. Its foreign ministry condemned the strikes as a “flagrant violation” of sovereignty, saying Qatar has sought dialogue with Iran and has tried to distance itself from regional conflict.
The UAE defense ministry said the country faced an Iranian ballistic missile attack that air defenses intercepted “with high efficiency,” but debris fell in a residential area, causing material damage and one civilian death.
The U.S. Mission in the UAE issued a security alert instructing embassy and consulate staff to shelter in place and recommending Americans do the same, citing regional hostilities.
Syrian state television said an Iranian missile struck a building in the southern city of Sweida, killing four people.
Kuwait’s Foreign Ministry said the country’s air defenses successfully repelled what it described as a “heinous Iranian attack” that violated its sovereignty and airspace, affirming its “full and inherent right” to self-defense.
In Washington, reactions largely split along party lines, though several Democrats joined Republicans in backing the operation.
Internationally, allies and global powers urged restraint as the conflict widened.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
