US – Israel Attack Iran, Trump Vows to Over through Regime

The American-led attack appeared to herald a much broader regional crisis. Iranian news media reported that Iran had targeted at least four U.S. military bases across the Persian Gulf — including in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, which said they had come under attack.

Iran also fired multiple waves of ballistic missiles at Israel, prompting booms in the skies as Israeli air defenses sought to repel them. Air-raid sirens sounded across the country, sending Israelis running to fortified shelters.

Mr. Trump vowed that the “massive and ongoing” campaign would target not just Iran’s nuclear program, which was the focus of a U.S. attack last June. Instead, Mr. Trump said the United States would “raze their missile industry to the ground” and “annihilate their navy,” arguing that Iran had refused to reach a deal with the United States that would have averted war.

He then called on Iranians to overthrow their government when the U.S. military assault came to an end. “It will be yours to take,” he said. “This will be probably your only chance for generations.”

Iran’s government vowed “crushing retaliation” against Israel and the United States and said it would not “surrender to their despicable demands.” Internet access in Iran plummeted amid the attack, making communication difficult.

Dozens of U.S. strikes were carried out by attack planes from bases and aircraft carriers around the Middle East, one U.S. official said. The initial focus was military targets in Iran.

The attack followed weeks of rising tensions as Mr. Trump repeatedly threatened to strike Iran unless the country’s leadership agreed to U.S. demands. American and Iranian officials held a last-ditch round of mediated talks on Thursday over Tehran’s nuclear program. The talks ended without a breakthrough, apparently paving the way for the attack.

Here’s what else to know:

• Chaos in Tehran: Ali Zeinalipoor, a Tehran resident, described watching a massive plume of smoke billowing from nearby Pasteur Street. “I rushed to school to get my daughter from middle school, the girls were hiding under the stairs and crying,” he said. Read more ›

• Trump’s video: Mr. Trump, standing behind a lectern and wearing a white USA hat, said in an eight-minute video posted to Truth Social early Saturday that the U.S. objective was “to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime.” He added that “its menacing activities directly endanger the United States, our troops, our bases overseas and our allies throughout the world.” Read more ›

• The crisis: The latest tensions with Iran began after Mr. Trump vowed in early January to aid antigovernment demonstrators there. The Iranian government quelled those protests in a bloody crackdown that killed thousands, according to rights groups. Mr. Trump has since both threatened to attack Iran and sought to leverage the unrest in the country to reach a diplomatic solution.

• Last year’s strikes: The United States bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities last June during a 12-day-war between Israel and Iran. While Mr. Trump initially said the Iranian nuclear program had been “obliterated” by those American strikes, it later emerged that the effort had been degraded, not decisively destroyed. (New York Times)