The United States and Israel launched coordinated strikes on Iranian targets Saturday, sending plumes of smoke into the sky over Tehran and triggering sirens across the region, officials and witnesses said.
The attacks followed US President Donald Trump’s warnings that Washington would act to eliminate “imminent threats” from Iran’s nuclear and missile programs. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz described the operation as a “preventive strike.”
“The United States’ military began major combat operations in Iran,” Trump said in a video message posted on social media from his Florida golf club. “We are going to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground. … We’re going to annihilate their navy.”
Trump offered the Iranian military a choice of “immunity” or “certain death” and warned Iranians 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 recorded in the Keshvardoost and Pasteur districts of Tehran. Witnesses told AFP they saw Tomahawk missiles and columns of smoke rising over the city center. The health ministry dispatched ambulances, but there were no immediate reports of casualties.
Airspace closures were ordered in Iran, Iraq, and Israel, and US embassies in Qatar and Bahrain advised Americans to take shelter. Sirens sounded in Jerusalem, and Israeli authorities issued mobile alerts warning of an “extremely serious” threat.
The strikes came a day after US-Iran talks in Geneva, which Trump said failed to yield results. Oman, which mediated the discussions, reported that Iran agreed to halt uranium stockpiling and degrade existing stockpiles, creating a contrast with the White House assessment.
The military action follows months of tension, including Iran’s crackdown on mass protests and the United States’ previous withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear agreement, which Trump had criticized.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is scheduled to travel to Israel Monday for further talks on Iran, in a rare move without reporters aboard his plane. Rubio has also designated Iran as a state sponsor of wrongful detentions over the imprisonment of US citizens.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi urged constructive engagement, calling for “seriousness and realism from the other side and avoidance of any miscalculation and excessive demands.”
The International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN nuclear watchdog, said it would hold technical discussions with Iran on Monday and urged the country to cooperate constructively.
