The United States and Israel launched a major attack on Iran on Saturday, which President Trump portrayed as an opportunity for regime change in Tehran.
The attack followed weeks of repeated threats from Mr. Trump that the United States would strike Iran unless the country’s leadership agreed to U.S. demands, especially over Tehran’s nuclear program. On Thursday, American and Iranian officials held a last-ditch round of mediated talks that ended without a breakthrough.
On Saturday, Mr. Trump announced that “major combat operations” were underway in Iran. The Department of Defense has called the strikes “Operation Epic Fury.”
Why did the United States and Israel attack Iran?
The latest tensions between the United States and Iran began in January, when Mr. Trump vowed to come to the aid of protesters when Iran’s government used lethal force to crush public unrest. In taped remarks announcing the attack on Saturday, Mr. Trump urged Iranians to “take over your government” once the military action concluded.
“This will be probably your only chance for generations,” he said. “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.”
It is the second time in less than a year that the U.S. military has struck in Iran. Last June, American forces bombed three nuclear facilities in the country. This time, U.S. officials said they expected a far more extensive assault.
For Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, joining the strike on Iran is part of a long-held goal to enact regime change in a country he has portrayed as an existential threat to Israel, the Middle East and the world. In a televised statement, Mr. Netanyahu said the American-Israeli attack could “create the conditions for the brave Iranian people to take their destiny into their own hands.”
What are the targets?
The attacks began on what was the first day of the week in Iran, with reports of explosions across several cities, including Qom, Kermanshah, Isfahan and Karaj, according to Iran’s semiofficial Fars News Agency. In Tehran, where the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei lives, images showed thick smoke rising into the sky.
Videos verified by The New York Times showed strikes in an area of Tehran that houses the presidential palace and Iran’s National Security Council, among other important government buildings. Another video showed a strike near the Ministry of Intelligence.
A central objective of the first joint wave of strikes was to hit as many leaders as possible, according to three Israeli security officials familiar with the operations. The Israeli military also said its air force had carried out a broad wave of strikes on multiple military targets in western Iran.
Officials from both countries said they expected the assault to last several days.
How has Iran responded?
Iran fired a barrage of missiles and drones at Israel, the Revolutionary Guard Corps said in a statement on Telegram.
It also launched missile attacks targeting U.S. military bases in the region, including Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait, Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates, and the U.S. Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain, Fars reported.
Qatar’s ministry of defense said that it had “successfully thwarted a number of attacks” targeting its territory. The attack echoed another strike last June, when Iran fired more than a dozen missiles at an American military base near the Qatari capital, Doha, in response to a U.S. attack on its nuclear facilities.
The Gulf states are home to a number of American bases and embassies, and experts have warned that Iran would target them in retaliatory strikes. In preparation, the U.S. military has built up forces in the region, in what Mr. Trump has described as an “armada.”
Lynsey Chutel is a Times reporter based in London who covers breaking news in Africa, the Middle East and Europe.
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