The United States and Israel launched coordinated strikes across Iran, including Tehran, on Saturday in what officials described as a “preventative attack.”
President Donald Trump confirmed a “major combat operation” in an eight-minute address, stating that Iran could never have a nuclear weapon. “It’s been mass terror, and we’re not going to take it any longer,” he said.
Witnesses reported hearing blasts in the Iranian capital, and footage shows columns of smoke rising above the city.
Iran and Israel have closed their airspace, while officials in Tehran said Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been transferred to a secure location.
The strikes come amid heightened tensions over Iran’s nuclear programme, its long-running effort to enrich uranium, which Western powers fear could be used to produce nuclear weapons.
In Washington on Friday, President Trump expressed frustration with the latest round of negotiations, telling reporters he was “not happy” with how discussions were progressing. “I’d rather do it the peaceful way, but they’re very difficult people… they’re very dangerous people,” he said.
Meanwhile, staff have been withdrawn from the British Embassy in Iran, and non-emergency US personnel and their families have been advised to leave Israel due to safety risks.
