The United States and Israel launched coordinated airstrikes against Iran early Saturday, igniting a wider regional war as Iranian allies immediately retaliated against American forces across the Middle East.
President Donald Trump announced the start of “major combat operations” in a prerecorded video released as explosions rocked Tehran and other Iranian cities. The operation, dubbed “Operation Epic Fury,” targeted Iranian military facilities, missile programs, and nuclear sites, with Israeli defense officials saying the joint attack had been planned for months.
“I want a safe nation, and that’s what we’re going to have,” Trump told The Washington Post, acknowledging that American casualties are likely. “The lives of courageous American heroes may be lost, and we may have casualties — that often happens in war.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the offensive would continue “as long as needed” to remove what he called “an existential threat posed by the Iranian ayatollah’s regime.”
Within hours, Iran made good on its promise of “crushing” retaliation.
Missiles struck the U.S. Navy headquarters in Bahrain, while Qatar, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait reported engaging air defenses to intercept Iranian fire. The Houthi rebels in Yemen announced they would resume strikes on Red Sea shipping, and Hezbollah in Lebanon launched attacks against Israeli positions.
The attack marks the second U.S. offensive against Iran in eight months.
“It is worth being clear-eyed about the stated justification,” said Nicole Grajewski, an assistant professor at Sciences Po in Paris. “Iran’s nuclear program, which formed the immediate public rationale for the original June 2025 strikes and continues to frame this new campaign, is not, by any serious assessment, a near-term threat commensurate with the scale of military action being undertaken.
The strikes came as Iranians began their workweek, sending panicked residents into the streets and parents racing to pick up their children from schools.
“I rushed to the school to get my daughter from middle school. The girls were hiding under the stairs and crying,” said Ali Zeinalipoor, reached by telephone in Tehran. “The principal did not know what had happened — everyone was so scared.”
Multiple explosions were reported near the Pasteur gated compound, where Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the president typically reside. Khamenei and “other senior Iranian officials were targets,” according to a person familiar with the operation. His whereabouts remain unknown.
From the roof of her apartment in Tehran’s Velenjak district, Golshan Fathi described watching fighter jets streak overhead. “People are standing on the roof looking at the sky, pointing down. You can hear women screaming,” she said. “It feels like we are in a movie.”
Trump, in his address, called on Iranian civilians to “take over” their government once the attacks conclude. “Bombs will be dropping everywhere,” he said. “When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take.”
Some Iranians were seen cheering the strikes, with voices heard chanting “Long live the shah,” a reference to the monarch deposed in the 1979 revolution. But others focused on survival.
“The only thing on our minds right now is to get to safety,” said Laleh, a lawyer and mother of two. “Nobody is thinking of protesting right now.”
The Iranian Foreign Ministry condemned what it called “criminal military aggression” occurring while the two nations were engaged in diplomatic negotiations. Another round of indirect talks had taken place this week in Geneva without resolution.
Israel declared a state of emergency and ordered civilians to shelter in place as it mobilized approximately 70,000 reservists. The Israeli military reported intercepting multiple missile barrages.
Lawmakers from both parties condemned the strikes as unconstitutional, noting Trump launched the offensive without congressional authorization.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., labeled them “acts of war unauthorized by Congress.” Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., who served as a Marine in Iraq, posted on X: “I lost friends in Iraq to an illegal war. Young working-class kids should not pay the ultimate price for regime change.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., applauded the strikes as “necessary” and “long justified.”
Rep. Josh Gottheimer, known as President Donald Trump’s favorite Democrat in the House of Representatives, recently said, “So long as ‘Death to America’ remains the rallying cry of the Iranian regime, Iran will remain a persistent and serious threat to our men and women in uniform, our allies, and global stability. We know that Tehran is still pursuing a nuclear weapon and, since the June conflict, has moved aggressively to rebuild its ballistic missile capabilities — a direct threat to our brave service members and key democratic allies.”
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer convened an emergency meeting but stopped short of endorsing the strikes, expressing support only for the goal of preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi condemned the air strike that hit a girls’ primary school in southern Iran, reportedly killing at least 51 people.
“The destroyed building is a primary school for girls, bombed in broad daylight when it was packed with young pupils. Dozens of innocent children have been murdered at this site alone,” said Araghchi, who added that “these crimes against the Iranian people will not go unanswered.”
The attack marks the second U.S. offensive against Iranian nuclear facilities in eight months, following June 2025 strikes that a Pentagon assessment found set back Iran’s program by approximately two years. Iran’s foreign minister said Saturday that nuclear sites sustained severe damage.
Internet monitoring groups reported a “near-total internet blackout” in Iran, matching measures used during last year’s war with Israel.
As night fell across the region, the scope of the conflict remained unclear. Trump described the operation as “massive and ongoing” and suggested the ultimate goal is regime change. Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard vowed to respond “decisively and powerfully.”
“We’re doing this not for now,” Trump said. “We’re doing this for the future, and it is a noble mission.”