The United States and Israel launched a coordinated attack against Iran in the early hours of Sunday. President Donald Trump stated that among the objectives of the action are to devastate Iran’s military capacity, eliminate the nuclear program and change the government in Tehran.
Multiple explosions were recorded in the capital, including in the region of the presidential palace and the National Security Council. There are also records of attacks in the cities of Isfahan, Qom, Karaj, Tabriz and Kermanshah.
Iran has launched retaliatory strikes against Israel, where anti-aircraft defenses are active. Bahrain’s state news agency said a US military base in the country was the target of a missile attack.
Trump announced the attack in a video posted on social media. “The United States is carrying out a large-scale and sustained operation to stop the evil and radical dictatorship from threatening the United States and the core of our national security interest. We will destroy your missiles and bury your missile industry. It will be totally destroyed. We will annihilate your Navy,” he declared.
“We will make sure that Iran does not get a nuclear weapon. It’s a very clear message,” said the American president. He said it was a “noble mission” and called on the Iranian Revolutionary Guards to lay down their arms.
Trump said his goal “is to defend Americans by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime,” which he defined as a “savage group of terrible people whose threatening activities endanger the United States” as well as its troops, its bases abroad and its allies around the world.
“They have tried to rebuild their nuclear program and continue developing their long-range missiles that can now threaten our good friends and allies in Europe, our troops abroad, and very soon the United States,” he added.
