US ‘defending American people’ by striking Iran – Trump

Tehran maintains it is not developing nuclear weapons, insisting its research program is for peaceful purposes only.

US President Donald Trump has confirmed that Washington has launched “major combat operations in Iran” to eliminate “imminent threats” and “defend the American people“. The Islamic Republic has previously rejected US demands to curb its nuclear program, which it says only serves peaceful purposes.

In an eight-minute video posted on Saturday on Truth Social, Trump outlined a litany of historic grievances towards Tehran while describing “the Iranian regime” as “a vicious group of very hard, terrible people,” adding that its “menacing activities directly endanger the United States, our troops, our bases overseas, and our allies throughout the world.”

The US president cited the failure of nuclear diplomacy as a direct trigger for renewed strikes. “In Operation Midnight Hammer last June, we obliterated the regime’s nuclear program at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan,” he said. “After that attack, we warned them never to resume their pursuit of nuclear weapons and repeatedly sought to make a deal… They said they wanted to do it, then they did not.”

Trump also claimed that Iran not only continued to develop its nuclear program, but had also been working on “long-range missiles that can threaten our friends and allies in Europe” and could even reach the American mainland. Three Reuters sources earlier cast doubt on Iran having such a capability.

The US president also said that the US forces would “destroy [Iranian] missiles and rase their missile industry”, “annihilate their navy,” and ensure Iran “does not obtain a nuclear weapon,” while acknowledging the risk of American casualties.

Trump wrapped up his address by urging the Iranian military to lay down their arms, warning they would otherwise “face certain death.” He also appealed to ordinary Iranians to “take over your government” after the US accomplishes its objectives.

Iran maintains it does not seek to acquire nuclear weapons, arguing that its atomic programme is for peaceful purposes only. It has also warned that any attack would be met with retaliatory strikes on American military facilities across the Middle East.