Topics: Donald Trump, Iran
US President Donald Trump has said the US military has launched 'major combat operations' against Iran including airstrikes across the country, with Iran confirming it has carried out counterattacks.
As smoke has engulfed buildings in central Tehran today (28 February) after a joint US-Israel airstrikes rang across the capital, Trump said the US is carrying out ‘massive and ongoing operation’ in Iran to prevent ‘very wicked, radical dictatorship’ from threatening the US and its allies.
The operation, which has been given the name of Epic Fury, as per the US Department of War, comes after weeks of negotiations between the US and Iran concerning the latter's nuclear program have unraveled.
"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," Donald Trump said in a statement detailing the operation.
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"Its menacing activities directly endanger the United States, our troops our basis overseas and our allies throughout the world."
Trump also acknowledged that lives may be lost in this 'noble' mission, saying: "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."
The US DOW has teamed up with the Israel Defense Force (IDF), with the latter saying their air force is ‘operating to intercept and strike threats where necessary to remove the threat’ after the IDF announced Iran had fired a missile towards its neighbor, with sirens warning residents to seek shelter in cities including Jerusalem and Haifa.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attacks on Iran aimed to remove an 'existential threat'. Netanyahu said the operation 'will create the conditions for the brave Iranian people to take their fate into their own hands' and praised Trump for his 'historic leadership'.
Following the joint attack, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has launched a counterattack, according to Tasnim news agency, which has links to the regime.
"In an answer to the hostile and criminal enemy assault to the Islamic Republic of Iran, the first broad wave of missile and drone attacks of the Islamic Republic of Iran toward the occupied land has begun," the IRGC said in a statement.
The attack and the IRGC's response have generated fear that the conflict may have escalated to near regions as explosions have been reported in the sky in Amman, Jordan, and near a US naval base in Bahrain. Unconfirmed explosions have also been reported at possible military bases and missile sites in Chabahar and Konarak along the Gulf of Oman, and in Ilam near Iran’s border with Iraq.
One of the Israeli airstrikes landed near Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s office, though it hasn't been confirmed whether the 86-year-old politician had been in at the time.
At present, it isn't known whether people in Iran have been injured or killed, but hospitals are on alert, according to state news agency IRNA.
The country has also been experiencing a near-total Internet shutdown, as both internet connectivity and GPS signals have now ceased.
It is understood the UK was not involved in the joint attack. Prime Minister Keir Starmer is expected to chair an emergency COBRA meeting later today.
