Israel on Saturday released its first official video showing strikes on targets in Iran as part of what it called Operation Roaring Lion, as the conflict in the Middle East escalated dramatically following coordinated US-Israeli action.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had struck hundreds of targets in western Iran under Operation Roaring Lion. The strikes came as the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran, targeting its leadership and plunging the region into a new conflict that President Donald Trump said would eliminate a security threat to the United States and give Iranians a chance to topple their rulers.
The first wave of strikes in what the Pentagon named “Operation Epic Fury” mainly targeted Iranian officials, a source familiar with the matter said. An Israeli official told news agency Reuters that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian were both targeted, but the outcome of the strikes was not immediately clear.
HOPES DIM FOR DIPLOMATIC SOLUTION TO NUCLEAR DISPUTE
The renewed confrontation between Iran and its long-time foes dimmed hopes of a diplomatic solution to Tehran’s nuclear dispute with the West. The latest indirect talks between the US and Iran this week failed to produce a breakthrough.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said a first wave of retaliatory Iranian missile and drone attacks had been launched against Israel. An Iranian official told Reuters that all US bases and interests in the region were within Iran’s reach.
Iran’s retaliation would continue until “the enemy is decisively defeated,” the Revolutionary Guards said.
Loud explosions were reported across the Gulf. Booms were heard in the United Arab Emirates capital Abu Dhabi and in Dubai, the country’s commercial hub. One witness in Abu Dhabi heard five booms in rapid succession that caused windows to vibrate, while others in the Al Dhafra and Bateen areas also reported loud blasts.
Bahrain said the service centre of the US Fifth Fleet had been subjected to a missile attack. Video footage from witnesses showed a thick grey plume of smoke rising from near the island state’s coastline as sirens wailed.
Qatar said it had downed all missiles targeting the country and asserted its right to respond.
TRUMP CITES 1979 HOSTAGE CRISIS
In a video message posted on social media, Trump referred to Washington’s decades-old dispute with Iran, including the seizure of the US embassy in Tehran in 1979, when 52 Americans were held hostage for 444 days after the Islamic Revolution brought clerics to power.
He urged Iranians to remain sheltered because “bombs will be dropping everywhere,” but also added: “When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will be probably your only chance for generations.”
ISRAEL URGES IRANIANS TO REMOVE ‘YOKE OF TYRANNY’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the joint U.S.-Israeli attack “will create the conditions for the brave Iranian people to take their destiny into their own hands” and “remove the yoke of tyranny.”
The attack follows a 12-day air war last June between Israel and Iran and repeated U.S.-Israeli warnings that further strikes would follow if Iran pressed ahead with its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.
Defence Minister Israel Katz said the operation, launched during Ramadan, was pre-emptive and aimed at removing threats to Israel.
The United States and Iran had renewed negotiations in February to try to resolve the nuclear dispute. Iran denies seeking atomic bombs and has said it is prepared to discuss curbs on its nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief, but has ruled out linking the issue to its missile programme.
