President Donald Trump early Saturday announced the U.S. began “major combat operations” in Iran, saying the Middle Eastern nation rejected American calls to halt its nuclear weapons production.
Instead, Trump claimed, the Iranians “attempted to rebuild their nuclear program and continue developing long range missiles that can now threaten our very good friends and allies in Europe, our troops stationed overseas and could soon reach our American homeland.”
The president, in video remarks posted to his Truth Social account Saturday, said the strikes were part of a "massive and ongoing operation" against the regime in Tehran. The scale of the strikes was not immediately clear.
Following Trump’s announcement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed the joint operation “to remove the existential threat posed by the terrorist regime in Iran” in a video of his own posted to social media.
“This murderous terrorist regime must not be allowed to arm itself with nuclear weapons that would enable it to threaten all of humanity,” Netanyahu said.
Shortly after Trump’s announcement, the Israeli military said in a statement on X that it “identified missiles launched from Iran toward Israel,” with defensive systems operating to intercept the threat.
"We are going to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground,” the president said. “We are going to annihilate their navy, we are going to ensure that the region's terrorist proxies can no longer destabilize the region and the world."
Trump made a direct plea to the people of Iran in the 8-minute video, urging them to stay indoors and “take over your government” once the strikes halt.
“To the great, proud people of Iran, I say tonight: The hour of your freedom is at hand,” the president said. “Stay sheltered. Don’t leave your home. It’s very dangerous outside. Bombs will be dropping everywhere. When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will probably be your only chance for generations.”
Addressing the regime in Tehran directly, Trump said to “lay down your weapons and have complete immunity, or, in the alternative, face certain death” — a message he repeated twice.
Trump faced little political blowback after his previous attack on Iran in June, and the successful operation to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in January has many inside the administration bullish on U.S. military capabilities. But this latest attack, and the possibility of a power vacuum inside Iran or a protracted conflict, brings risks that are far less predictable — and far more deadly — than any of the president’s previous interventions.
Trump warned that American service members could lose their lives as a result of the strike. “The lives of courageous American heroes may be lost and we may have casualties,” the president said. “That often happens in war, but we’re doing this for the future.”He said the attacks targeted Iranian missile sites and the Iranian Navy. It’s unclear how many, if any, casualties there were.
The president has been threatening to take action against Iran for months, and has amassed the largest military buildup in the region since the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq. On Friday, he told reporters at the White House that he was “not thrilled” with how negotiations stood.
“We sought repeatedly to make a deal,” Trump said in Saturday’s video message. “We tried. They wanted to do it. They didn't want to do it… they didn’t know what was happening. They just wanted to practice evil.”
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), a consistent critic of the president’s aggressive foreign policy actions, took to social media to swiftly condemn reports of an attack. “Acts of war unauthorized by Congress,” Massie wrote.
Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), one of the first Democrats to react to the strike, wrote on X: “We can support the democracy movement and the Iranian people without sending our troops to die.”
Less than a year ago, Trump carried out airstrikes on key Iranian nuclear facilities — including the Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan enrichment sites — in the midst of an escalating conflict between Iran and Israel. The strikes, part of a broader campaign known as Operation Midnight Hammer, were aimed at setting back Iran’s nuclear program and later described by the president as highly successful, with his administration claiming the facilities were "obliterated."
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