Update (0845ET):
Iranian military officials said they would deliver a "historic lesson" to Israel and the U.S. in response to the strikes, as Operation Epic Fury, the U.S.-Israeli campaign designated by the Department of War, continues to hit military infrastructure, top army leaders, and other high-value targets across multiple Iranian cities.
Earlier footage allegedly showed the Iranian supreme leader's compound being struck by what appeared to be U.S. or Israeli missiles or air-delivered munitions.
New Airbus satellite imagery reportedly shows the compound in Tehran sustained severe damage; it remains unclear whether Ayatollah Khamenei was inside at the time of the strike.
Shortly after Operation Epic Fury began, President Trump announced in an eight-minute video on Truth Social that "major combat operations" had begun.
"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," the president said. "We are going to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground."
Trump continued, "To the members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, the armed forces, and all of the police, I say tonight that you must lay down your weapons and have complete immunity or, in the alternative, face certain death."
Operation Epic Fury comes amid the U.S. building a massive military presence in the region (read report). Also, one day after indirect nuclear talks (read here) between the U.S. and Iran did not end so well, according to Trump.
U.S. officials told NBC reporter Courtney Kube that Israel has targeted Iranian leaders, while the U.S. has targeted Iran's ballistic missile and nuclear high-value facilities.
There are reports that IRGC Commander Mohammad Pakpour was killed by Israeli strikes.
Gen. Abolfazl Shekarchi, the spokesman for Iran's Armed Forces, told state media that any military base used by the U.S. and Israel in the region will be targeted. There have already been reports of Iranian retaliatory strikes across the region.
Sources tell CNN that Operation Epic Fury was the result of "months of joint planning" and will involve several days of attacks.
* * *
The U.S. and Israel have conducted coordinated strikes on Iranian targets, which President Trump described in an eight-minute video on Truth Social as the start of "major combat operations" aimed at defending the U.S. by "eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime."
"The hour for your freedom is at hand," President Trump told the Iranian people in the video. "When we're finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will be probably your only chance for generations."
President Trump is expected to address the American people on Saturday morning following the second U.S. strike on Iranian soil in less than a year. The first strike took place in June 2025, when U.S. stealth bombers dropped bombs on three nuclear sites inside Iran.
The focus on the Saturday morning strikes (Brent crude futures are closed), the president said, was to ensure Americans "will never be threatened by a nuclear-armed Iran."
Bloomberg headline: Oil Tankers Avoiding Vital Hormuz Strait After US Bombs Iran
In markets, with Brent crude futures closed, Bitcoin was hammered from the $65k level, down to the $63k level.
US and Israeli strikes on Iran come one day after the latest round of indirect nuclear talks between Iran and the US, about which the president said he was "not happy with the progress," adding: "They don't want to say the key words: 'We're not going to have a nuclear weapon.'"
A US official told CNN that the US strikes were focused on Iranian military targets but did not comment on the ongoing operation. Another official told the outlet that the objective of the strikes was to address the Iranian military threat. The first official said the US military had put countermeasures in place to protect its personnel in the region.
AP News reports:
The first strikes of the attack appeared to target the compound home to Iran's 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in downtown Tehran. It wasn't immediately clear if he was there at the time. Smoke could be seen rising from the Iranian capital.
Shortly after the strike, the US Department of Defense wrote on X, "Operation Epic Fury." For context, last year's strike against Iran's nuclear facilities was "Operation Midnight Hammer."
Iranian state-run media outlets Fars and IRNA reported strikes in Isfahan, Qom, Lorestan, Karaj, Kermanshah, and Tabriz, as well as in the capital, Tehran.
Israel described the strikes against Iran as "a broad, coordinated, and joint operation against the regime" that was planned for months.
Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a recorded message that Israeli military action against Iran would be "much more powerful" than Israel's 12-day operation against Tehran last year.
In response, Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard launched a wave of drones and missiles targeting Israel. There were other reports that the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet command center in the host nation, Bahrain, was targeted by Iranian missiles.
Other reports suggest Iran launched projectiles at US bases and targets beyond Bahrain, and also in Kuwait and Qatar.
Iran's Foreign Ministry wrote on X, "The time has come to defend the homeland and confront the enemy's military assault. Just as we were prepared for negotiations, we have been even more prepared for defense at all times. The armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will decisively respond to the aggressors with full authority."
*Developing...
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/trump-announces-major-combat-operations-iran
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