Events are still unfolding in Iran, but, based on statements from President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, we are witnessing the destruction of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Approximately three hours ago as of this writing, Israel launched what it called “pre-emptive strikes” against Iran. Anticipating retaliatory strikes by Iran, Defense Minister Israel Katz declared a state of emergency across Israel.
Multiple cities in Iran have been targeted, with Iranian state news media reporting strikes in Isfahan, Qom, Lorestan, Karaj, Kermanshah, Tabriz and Tehran.
The strikes are part of a coordinate US-Israeli effort against the regime of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Two hours ago (as of this writing), President Trump released a video statement on Truth Social.
A short time ago, the United States military began major combat operations in Iran. Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime, a vicious group of very hard, terrible people. Its menacing activities directly endanger the United States, our troops, our bases overseas, and our allies throughout the world.
For 47 years, the Iranian regime has chanted death to America and waged an unending campaign of bloodshed and mass murder, targeting the United States, our troops, and the innocent people in many, many countries.
Among the regime’s very first acts was to back a violent takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, holding dozens of American hostages for 444 days.
In 1983, Iran’s proxies carried out the marine barracks bombing in Beirut that killed 241 American military personnel.
In 2000, they knew and were probably involved with the attack on the USS Cole. Many died.
Iranian forces killed and maimed hundreds of American service members in Iraq.
The regime’s proxies have continued to launch countless attacks against American forces stationed in the Middle East in recent years, as well as U.S. naval and commercial vessels in international shipping lanes. It’s been mass terror, and we’re not going to put up with it any longer.
From Lebanon to Yemen and Syria to Iraq, the regime has armed, trained, and funded terrorist militias that have soaked the earth with blood and guts. And it was Iran’s proxy, Hamas, that launched the monstrous October 7th attacks on Israel, slaughtering more than 1,000 innocent people, including 46 Americans, while taking 12 of our citizens hostage. It was brutal, something like the world has never seen before.
Iran is the world’s number one state sponsor of terror, and just recently killed tens of thousands of its own citizens on the street as they protested. It has always been the policy of the United States, in particular my administration, that this terrorist regime can never have a nuclear weapon. I’ll say it again. They can never have a nuclear weapon.
That is why, in Operation Midnight Hammer last June, we obliterated the regime’s nuclear program at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. After that attack, we warned them never to resume their malicious pursuit of nuclear weapons.
And we sought repeatedly to make a deal. We tried. They wanted to do it. They didn’t want to do it. Again, they wanted to do it. They didn’t want to do it. They didn’t know what was happening. They just wanted to practice evil.
But Iran refused, just as it has for decades and decades. They’ve rejected every opportunity to renounce their nuclear ambitions, and we can’t take it anymore. Instead, they attempted to rebuild their nuclear program and to continue developing long-range missiles that can now threaten our very good friends and allies in Europe, our troops stationed overseas, and could soon reach the American homeland. Just imagine how emboldened this regime would be if they ever had and actually were armed with nuclear weapons as a means to deliver their message.
For these reasons, the United States military has undertaken a massive and ongoing operation to prevent this very wicked, radical dictatorship from threatening America and our core national security interests. We are going to destroy their missiles and raize their missile industry to the ground. It will be totally, again, obliterated. We’re going to annihilate their navy. We’re going to ensure that the region’s terrorist proxies can no longer destabilize the region or the world and attack our forces and no longer use their IEDs or roadside bombs, as they are sometimes called, to so gravely wound and kill thousands and thousands of people including many Americans, and we will ensure that Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon.
It’s a very simple message. They will never have a nuclear weapon. This regime will soon learn that no one should challenge the strength and might of the United States Armed Forces. I built and rebuilt our military in my first administration. And there is no military on Earth even close to its power, strength, or sophistication.
My administration has taken every possible step to minimize the risk to U.S. personnel in the region.
Even so, and I do not make this statement lightly, the Iranian regime seeks to kill. The lives of courageous American heroes may be lost, and we may have casualties. That often happens in war.
But we’re doing this not for now. We’re doing this for the future, and it is a noble mission. We pray for every service member as they selflessly risk their lives to ensure that Americans and our children will never be threatened by a nuclear-armed Iran. We ask God to protect all of our heroes in harm’s way, and we trust that, with his help, the men and women of the armed forces will prevail. We have the greatest in the world, and they will prevail.
To the members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, the armed forces, and all of the police, I say tonight that you must lay down your weapons and have complete immunity, or, in the alternative, face certain death. So, lay down your arms. You will be treated fairly with total immunity, or you will face certain death.
Finally, to the great, proud people of Iran, I say tonight that the hour of your freedom is at hand. Stay sheltered. Don’t leave your home. It’s very dangerous outside. Bombs will be dropping everywhere. When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will be probably your only chance for generations.
For many years, you have asked for America’s help, but you never got it. No president was willing to do what I am willing to do tonight. Now you have a president who is giving you what you want. So let’s see how you respond.
America is backing you with overwhelming strength and devastating force. Now is the time to seize control of your destiny and to unleash the prosperous and glorious future that is close within your reach. This is the moment for action. Do not let it pass.
May God bless the brave men and women of America’s armed forces. May God bless the United States of America. May God bless you all. Thank you.
Separately, Prime Minister Netanyahu released the following statement:
My brothers and sisters, citizens of Israel, a short time ago, Israel and the United States embarked on an operation to remove the existential threat posed by the terrorist regime in Iran.
I thank our great friend, President Donald Trump, for his historic leadership. For 47 years, the Ayatollah regime has been shouting ‘Death to Israel,’ ‘Death to America.’
It has spilled our blood, murdered many Americans, and massacred its own people. This murderous terrorist regime must not be armed with nuclear weapons that would allow it to threaten all of humanity. Our joint action will create the conditions for the courageous Iranian people to take their destiny into their own hands.
The time has come for all segments of the Iranian people - the Persians, the Kurds, the Azeris, the Baluchis, and the Ahwazis - to throw off the yoke of tyranny and bring about a free and peaceful Iran.
I appeal to you, the citizens of Israel, to listen to the instructions of the Home Front Command. In the coming days, in Operation ‘The Roar of the Lion,’ we will all be required to have endurance and fortitude.
Together we will stand, together we will fight, and together we will ensure the eternity of Israel.
US officials are reported as stating that the US strikes are focused on military targets but declined to give details, as the operation is ongoing.
At the same time, there are reports of a “wave” of cyberattacks against Iranian state news agencies and media outlets, indicating this is a multi-domain attack on the regime’s societal infrastructures as well.
The decision to launch the strikes was apparently made within the past day, as President Trump was on Friday indicating he had not made any final decisions, but asserted the same basic position that he did a short while ago: Iran will not be allowed to have nuclear weapons.
Although Israel and the US had inflicted substantial damage to Iran’s nuclear weapons program last summer, Iran is reported to have been working to rebuild key facilities and restart uranium enrichment and nuclear weapons development.
Unsurprisingly, Iran has already launched retaliatory strikes against Israel. For now, Israel is reporting success in defending against the missile strikes.
For his part, exiled former Crown Prince Reza Pahlevi released a statement urging Iranian citizens to be prepared to take to the streets and topple the Khamenei regime.
My dear compatriots,
Decisive moments lie before us.
The assistance that the President of the United States had promised to the brave people of Iran has now arrived. This is a humanitarian intervention, and its target is the Islamic Republic, its apparatus of repression, and its machinery of killing—not the country and great nation of Iran.
However, despite the arrival of this assistance, the final victory will still be achieved by us. It is we, the people of Iran, who will finish this task in this final battle. The time to return to the streets is approaching.
Now that the Islamic Republic is collapsing, my message to the country’s military, law enforcement, and security forces is clear:
You have sworn an oath to protect Iran and the Iranian nation, not the Islamic Republic and its leaders. Your duty is to defend the people, not to defend a regime that has taken our homeland hostage through repression and crime. Join the nation and help ensure a stable and secure transition. Otherwise, you will sink with Khamenei’s ship and his crumbling regime.
And my message to the President of the United States, President Trump, is this:
The honorable people of Iran, despite the brutal repression and killings carried out by this regime, stood bravely for nearly two months. I now ask you to exercise the utmost possible caution to preserve the lives of civilians and my compatriots. The people of Iran are your natural allies and the allies of the free world, and they will not forget your assistance during the most difficult period of Iran’s contemporary history.
And to you, my dear compatriots in Iran:
In these sensitive hours and days, more than ever we must remain focused on our ultimate goal: reclaiming Iran.
I ask you, for now, to remain in your homes and remain calm and safe. Stay alert and ready to return to the streets for the final action at the appropriate time, which I will communicate to you.
Follow my messages through social media and satellite media. If disruptions occur in the internet and satellite broadcasts, I will remain in contact with you via radio.
We are very close to final victory. I hope to be with you as soon as possible so that together we may reclaim Iran and rebuild it.
Long live Iran.
Reza Pahlavi
Will this topple the Khamenei regime? There is no denying that is the explicit goal for both Israel and the United States. While Iranian leaders are not (yet) reported as having been killed, it will not be at all surprising if they should be, as there have been reports that Israel is targeting the homes of the Iranian leadership.
Will the Iranian people rise up against the regime, either independently or in response to Reza Pahlevi’s call to arms? Only time will give answer to that.
Tonight has been a night when literal decades are happening. What the geopolitical landscape of the Middle East will be even just a few hours from now will be radically altered from what it was just yesterday. More than that cannot be said, not even if this will prove to be a blessing or a curse for the Iranian people, for the Middle East, or for the United States and Israel.
There will be debate and controversy. There will be accusations and recriminations.
What there will not be yet is certainty. For that we must wait and watch.
Welp, there goes President Peace. This is not going to end well, for anyone.
WOW! It’s happening, and thank you, Peter, for staying up all night to bring us the news!
I was hoping for targeted strikes to take out Khamenei, as Trump did with Maduro. All-out war is very worrying, and the Left is going to have a political field day with this (on the plus side, none of them will be agitating about ICE anymore). Best case scenario is probably a swift kill to the top mullahs and their goons, with minimal damage to civilians, who rapidly take power over their own governmental affairs as free, democratic people.
Peter, any signs of a likely outcome yet?