US And Israel Launch Military Strikes On Iran

The United States and Israel carried out a series of strikes on Iranian cities on Saturday, causing explosions and large columns of smoke in the capital, Tehran.

The attacks came after US President Donald Trump expressed frustration over Iran’s approach to nuclear and missile negotiations.

Trump said the goal was to “eliminate imminent threats” from Iran, while Israel’s defense minister, Israel Katz, described the operation as a “preventive strike.”

In a video message posted on his social media, Trump said the US military had begun “major combat operations in Iran.”

He said, “The United States’ military began major combat operations in Iran. We are going to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground. It will be totally, again, obliterated. We’re going to annihilate their navy.”

Trump offered the Iranian military “immunity” if they surrendered, otherwise facing “certain death,” and told the Iranian people that the “hour of your freedom is at hand.”

Iranian state television reported that President Pezeshkian was “safe and sound.”

The Fars news agency said “seven missile impacts were reported in the Keshvardoost and Pasteur district of Tehran.’

“I saw with my own eyes two Tomahawk missiles flying horizontally toward targets. At first we heard a dull noise and thought it was a fighter jet,” an office worker told AFP on condition of anonymity.

AFP journalists in Tehran reported hearing blasts and seeing smoke rising over the city center.

The health ministry sent ambulances, but no casualties had been confirmed immediately.

During the strikes, Iran, Iraq, and Israel closed their airspace to civilian flights.

US embassies in Qatar and Bahrain advised Americans to take shelter.

In Jerusalem, sirens sounded, and Israeli authorities sent cellphone alerts to citizens.

The US had ordered one of the largest military buildups in the region in decades, with the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford moving toward Israel.

The strikes came a day after talks between the US and Iran in Geneva.

Trump said Iran was “not willing to give us what we have to have,” though Oman, which mediated the discussions, offered a more positive account, stating that Iran had agreed not to stockpile uranium and to convert current reserves into fuel.

The attacks also follow a crackdown by Iranian authorities that killed thousands during recent mass protests.

Iran had agreed to limit uranium enrichment under a 2015 nuclear deal, which Trump withdrew from during his first term.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to travel to Israel on Monday for discussions on Iran.

Unusually, he will travel without reporters accompanying him.

Trump has claimed that Iran is developing missiles capable of striking the US, a concern Rubio said would be “a very big problem” if not addressed.

Iran insists the talks remain focused on nuclear issues.

Additionally, Rubio recently added Iran to a new US blacklist over wrongful detentions of US citizens.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned that progress requires seriousness and realistic expectations from all parties and cautioned against miscalculations.

The UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, said it would hold technical discussions with Iran on Monday and urged Iran to cooperate constructively.

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