The United States and Israel launched an attack Saturday on Iran, with the first apparent strike happening near the offices of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Iranian media reported strikes nationwide, and smoke could be seen rising from the capital.
President Donald Trump said in a video posted on social media that the U.S. had begun “major combat operations in Iran.” He claimed Iran has continued to develop its nuclear program and plans to develop missiles to reach U.S.
Here’s the latest:
Blasts in northern Israel
Explosions rocked northern Israel on Saturday as the country worked to intercept incoming Iranian missiles after launching a nationwide attack with the U.S. on Iran.
The blasts echoed just after the Israeli military said it would be using its air defense systems to bring down the Iranian fire.
There was no immediate word on any damage or casualties from the ongoing attack.
Israel says air defenses to activate
Israel issued a nationwide warning Saturday after Iran reportedly launched missiles targeting the country.
The Israeli military said air defense systems would be activated to defend the country.
There may be U.S. casualties in operations against Iran, Trump says
Trump acknowledged that the operations against Iran may lead to U.S. casualties.
“The lives of courageous American heroes may be lost, and we may have casualties,” he said in a video posted to social media early Saturday morning. “That often happens in war.”
In the video, Trump wore a white baseball cap with the letters USA, a navy suit and white shirt with no necktie. There appeared to be a dark blue curtain behind him as the president announced the war in a video from Mar-a-Lago, his home and club in Palm Beach, Florida.
After the June attacks on Iran’s nuclear sites, Trump said, “We warned them never to resume their malicious pursuit of nuclear weapons. And we sought repeatedly to make a deal. We tried.”
He added that Iran “rejected every opportunity to renounce their nuclear ambitions, and we can’t take it anymore.”
Iran blocked inspectors from nuclear sites
Iran has said it hasn’t enriched uranium since June, but it has blocked international inspectors from visiting the sites the United States bombed during the 12-day war then.
Satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press have shown new activity at two of those sites, suggesting Iran is trying to assess and potentially recover material there.
Trump accuses Iran of trying to rebuild nuclear program
Despite claims that last year’s strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities destroyed the country’s nuclear program, Trump said that Iran “attempted to rebuild their nuclear program and to continue developing the 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.”
Trump said that Saturday’s strikes would be part of “a massive and ongoing operation” that will aim to “destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground” as well as “annihilate their navy,” and “ensure that the region’s terrorist proxies can no longer destabilize the region or the world and attack our forces.”
Trump tells Iranian officials to lay down arms or ‘face death’
Trump called the attacks on Iran “a noble mission,” saying they were necessary because of Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons and missile systems that could reach the U.S.
He called on Iranian officials to “lay down your arms” or “you will face certain death,” and encouraged the Iranian people to “take over your government – it will be yours to take.”
Iraq closes its airspace
Iraq’s Ministry of Transport said Saturday the country’s airspace has been closed following airstrikes on neighboring Iran.
The ministry’s spokesman, Mitham al-Safi, told state-run Iraqi News Agency that “the closure was preceded by the evacuation of all air traffic from Iraqi airspace.”
Trump says US begins ‘major combat operations in Iran’
The U.S. began “major combat operations in Iran,” President Donald Trump said in a video on Truth Social.
He said the objective is to defend the U.S. by “eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime.”
U.S. is taking part in strikes on Iran, sources tell AP
The United States is participating in the strikes, according to a U.S. official and a person familiar with the operation, who spoke on condition of anonymity to detail sensitive military operations. The full extent of U.S. involvement was not immediately clear.
