United States and Israeli forces have launched military strikes against Iran, with President Donald Trump calling the attacks a “major combat operation” against the Iranian regime.
Explosions within Iran were first recorded in the early hours of Saturday morning ET, with smoke rising above the capital city Tehran. Shortly after the first reports of the attacks emerged, both the US and Israel claimed responsibility for the strikes. Explosions have subsequently been heard in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, in what appeared to be retaliatory Iranian strikes.
In an eight-minute video posted to Truth Social and X, Trump said the operation’s objective was to “defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement confirming the military operation and said Israel was aiming to “remove the existential threat posed” by Iran.
The strikes on Iran, which have been called Operation Epic Fury by the so-called US Department of War and Operation Roaring Lion by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), reportedly hit multiple cities across the country. The impact, targets, and damage caused by the strikes was not immediately clear.
Shortly after confirming launching the attacks, the IDF said it had “identified” Iranian missiles being launched towards Israel. Iran’s response to the attacks appeared to include launching missiles towards other countries in the region that host US military bases.
The US embassy in Bahrain issued an alert saying that missile or drone attacks could be imminent, with images later showing potential explosions around the capital Manama. The United Arab Emirates Ministry of Defense posted on X that it has intercepted “several Iranian missiles” and that building damage had resulted in the death of “an individual of Asian nationality.” Qatar’s defence ministry also confirmed it had intercepted missiles.
In the immediate aftermath of the attack, multiple countries in the region also closed their airspaces to commercial flights. As of 5am ET, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar had suspended their airspaces, according to flight tracking service FlightRadar24. Web monitoring group NetBlocks reported a “near-total internet blackout” within Iran shortly after the strikes were reported, with “national connectivity” dropping to around four percent of its usual state.
Trump, in his initial statement about the attacks, claimed the Iranian regime was continuing to develop nuclear weapons and the US was taking action in an attempt to stop this activity. “They can never have a nuclear weapon,” he said. “We are going to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground.”
The US president also encouraged the Iranian people to overthrow their country’s regime. “To the great, proud people of Iran, I say tonight that the hour of your freedom is at hand,” Trump said. “When we are finished, take over your government, it will be yours to take.”
The US and Iran have participated in three recent rounds of mediated diplomatic negotiations billed as an effort to forge an agreement on Iran’s nuclear program and avert armed conflict. Reports out of meetings in Geneva on Thursday seemed lukewarm, with negotiators sharing vaguely positive reactions with journalists and on social media. For example, Oman’s foreign minister Badr Albusaidi wrote in a post on X that there had been “significant progress” and that technical teams would meet for further discussion next week in Vienna.
In a follow up on Friday, he posted that he had met with US Vice President JD Vance and that he expected “further and decisive progress in the coming days.” He added, “Peace is within our reach.” However, also on Friday, US officials told embassy staff in Israel to leave the country.
