DUBAI, FEB 28: The US and Israel launched a major attack on Iran on Saturday, and President Donald Trump called on the Iranian public to "seize control of your destiny" by rising up against the Islamic leadership that has ruled the nation since 1979.
Iran retaliated by firing missiles and drones toward Israel and US military bases in the region.
Some of the first strikes on Iran appeared to hit areas around the offices of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Smoke could be seen rising from the capital as part of strikes that Iranian media said occurred nationwide. It wasn't immediately clear whether the 86-year-old leader was in his offices when the attack occurred.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told NBC News that Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian are alive "as far as I know."
In a video announcing the "major combat operations," Trump told Iranians that "when we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will be probably your only chance for generations."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu echoed that goal, saying,
"Our joint operation will create the conditions for the brave Iranian people to take their fate into their own hands."
The strikes during the holy fasting month of Ramadan opened a stunning new chapter in US intervention in Iran and marked the second time in eight months that the Trump administration has used military force against the Islamic Republic.
The targets included members of Iran's leadership, according to a US official and another person briefed on the attacks who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing operation. There was no immediate information on whether top officials had been killed.
The immediate trigger for Saturday's strikes appears to be the unsuccessful latest round of nuclear talks. But they also reflect the dramatic changes across the region that have left Iran's leadership in its weakest position since the Islamic Revolution nearly half a century ago.
Israeli and American strikes last June greatly weakened Iran's air defenses, military leadership and nuclear program. A regionwide war, sparked by Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, has left Iran's network of proxies across the Middle East greatly weakened. US sanctions and global isolation, meanwhile, have decimated Iran's economy.
Iran responded to the latest strikes as it had been threatening to do for months, including by launching missiles and drones targeting Israel as well as strikes targeting US military installations in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar. "The time has come to defend the homeland and confront the enemy's military assault," Iran's Foreign Ministry said in a statement on X.
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk has condemned the US and Israeli strikes on Iran, as well as Iran's retaliatory attacks, warning that civilians invariably bear the brunt of any armed conflict.
Türk stressed that military action only brings death and destruction, and called on all parties to exercise restraint, de-escalate tensions, and return to negotiations that had been under way just hours earlier.
Meanwhile, Iran's Defence Minister Amir Nasirzadeh and Revolutionary Guards commander Mohammed Pakpour are believed to have been killed in Israeli attacks, two sources familiar with Israel's military operations and one regional source said.
�"AP, REUTERS, AFP
