US, Israel attack Iran; Trump urges Iranians to ‘take over your gov’t’
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates—The United States and Israel launched a major attack on Iran on Saturday, with President Donald Trump calling on the Iranian public to “seize control of your destiny” and rise up against the Islamic leadership that has ruled the nation since 1979.
Some of the first strikes appeared to hit areas around the offices of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and Iranian media reported strikes nationwide. Smoke could be seen rising from the capital. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the 86-year-old leader was in his offices at the time of the strike.
“When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will be probably your only chance for generations,” Trump said in a video announcing “major combat operations” were underway. “For many years, you have asked for America’s help, but you never got it.”
US President Donald Trump urged the Iranian people to “take over your government” in a video address posted Saturday. His comments came after the US and Israel launched an attack on Iran.
New chapter in US intervention
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu echoed that sweeping goal. “Our joint operation will create the conditions for the brave Iranian people to take their fate into their own hands,” Netanyahu said.
The strikes opened a stunning new chapter in US intervention in Iran and marked the second time in eight months that the Trump administration has used military force against the Islamic Republic. They also came just weeks after Trump ordered a military operation to capture Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, and bring him and his wife to New York to face federal drug conspiracy charges.
Tensions have soared in recent weeks as American warships moved into the region. Trump said he wanted a deal to constrain Iran’s nuclear program at a moment when the country is struggling at home with growing dissent following nationwide protests.
The immediate trigger for Saturday’s strikes appears to be the unsuccessful latest round of nuclear talks. But they also reflect the dramatic changes across the region that have left Iran’s leadership in its weakest position since the Islamic Revolution nearly half a century ago.
Israeli and American strikes last June greatly weakened Iran’s air defenses, military leadership and nuclear program. A regionwide war, sparked by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, has left Iran’s network of proxies across the Middle East greatly weakened. US sanctions and global isolation, meanwhile, have decimated Iran’s economy.
Defiant Iran
Iran responded to the latest strikes as it had been threatening to do for months—first launching a wave of missiles and drones targeting Israel. It followed with strikes targeting US military installations in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar. The United Arab Emirates and Iraq shut down their airspace.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry issued a defiant statement, saying that the country “will not hesitate” in its response. In a statement posted on X, the ministry said: “The time has come to defend the homeland and confront the enemy’s military assault.”
Forty people were reported killed at a girls’ school in southern Iran in the Israeli-US strikes, according to Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency. At least 45 others were wounded in the attack in Minab in Iran’s Hormozgan province. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on reported strike on the school.
In an indication of the scope of the conflict, air defense fire thudded over Dubai, the commercial capital of the United Arab Emirates, Saturday afternoon. Associated Press (AP) journalists saw the aftereffects of the blast from an interceptor.
Four people were also killed by an Iranian missile striking a building in Syria’s southern city of Sweida, according to Syrian state television.
Shrapnel from an Iranian missile attack on the capital of the UAE killed one person, state media said.
The attacks came after weeks of the US military massing forces in the region even as US and Iranian envoys held talks in Switzerland and Oman aimed at finding a diplomatic solution to head off an American military operation.
Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi, a key mediator in the US-Iran nuclear talks, said in a post on X that he was dismayed that US and Israel moved forward with the operation.
“Active and serious negotiations have yet again been undermined,” said al-Busaidi, who traveled to Washington on Friday to meet with Vice President JD Vance for talks. “Neither the interests of the United States nor the cause of global peace are well served by this. And I pray for the innocents who will suffer. I urge the United States not to get sucked in further.”
Israel said the operation was carried out as a “broad, coordinated, and joint operation against the regime” that has been planned for months between the Israeli and US militaries.
Reasons beyond nuclear
Trump, in justifying the military action, claimed that Iran has continued to develop its nuclear program and plans to develop missiles to reach the US.
He also acknowledged that there could be American casualties, saying “that often happens in war.”
It was a notable call on Americans to brace themselves from a US leader who swept into office on an “America First” platform and vowed to keep out of “forever wars” that had bogged down his recent predecessors.
Trump’s statement indicated the US was striking for reasons far beyond the nuclear program, listing grievances stretching back to the beginning of the Islamic Republic following a revolution in 1979 that turned Iran from one of America’s closest allies in the Middle East into a fierce foe.
The US president said he was aiming to “annihilate” the Iranian navy and destroy regional proxies supported by Tehran.
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