President Trump announces “massive and ongoing operation to prevent this very wicked, radical dictatorship from threatening America”
The United States and Israel launched a military campaign against Iran early Saturday, an operation the Trump administration dubbed “Epic Fury.”
“The United States military is undertaking a massive and ongoing operation to prevent this very wicked, radical dictatorship from threatening America and our core national security interests,” Trump said in the video message. “We are going to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground… We are going to annihilate their navy.”
The joint military campaign attacked several major cities including Tehran, where explosions were observed, CNN reports, with Israel’s attacks specifically targeting Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Iran retaliated soon after with missile attacks against Israeli targets as well as U.S. military bases in several Arab countries, including Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
The president added, “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.”
Trump also called on the Iranians to “take over your government” and that “the hour of your freedom is at hand.” “Stay safe, stay sheltered… When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will be probably your only chance for generations,” Trump said.
Iran foreign minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on social media, “[Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and Trump’s war on Iran is wholly unprovoked, illegal, and illegitimate,” adding that Iran’s armed forces will “teach the aggressors the lesson they deserve.”
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