President Donald Trump announced Saturday that the United States has begun “major combat operations” in Iran, pledging to lay waste to the country’s military and obliterate its nuclear program.
In an eight-minute video on Truth Social, Trump accused Iran of rejecting “every opportunity to renounce their nuclear ambitions,” and said the US “can’t take it anymore.” Israel also said it was attacking Iran.
Unlike the last time the US and Israel struck Iran, in June, these strikes began in daylight early Saturday morning – the first day of the week in Iran – as millions went to work or school. And whereas the US strikes in June were over within a few hours, sources have told CNN that the US military is this time planning for several days of attacks.
In response, the Iranian regime has launched an unprecedented wave of strikes across the Middle East, with blasts heard in several countries that host US military bases, including the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain.
Here’s what we know about the first few hours of what could be a longer regional war.
What did Trump say?
In his 2.30 a.m. statement, Trump said the objective of the US operation – which the Department of Defense is calling “Operation Epic Fury” – is “to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime.”
The president listed the Iranian regime’s long history of sponsoring terror in the region and hostility toward the US, from the 1979 hostage crisis to the more recent actions of its proxies.
“For 47 years the Iranian regime has chanted “death to America” and waged an unending campaign of bloodshed and mass murder, targeting the United States, our troops, and the innocent people in many, many countries,” Trump said. “It’s been mass terror. And we’re not going to put up with it any longer.”
People run for cover following an explosion in Tehran, on Saturday, February 28. Majid Asgaripour/West Asia News Agency/Reuters
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