The United States and Israel have launched a coordinated wave of air and missile strikes on targets in several Iranian cities, triggering loud explosions and thick columns of smoke over the capital, Tehran, in a sharp escalation of regional tensions.
The attacks followed renewed warnings from Donald Trump, who accused Iran of refusing to compromise in negotiations over its nuclear and missile programmes. Washington said the operation was aimed at neutralising what it described as imminent threats.
“The United States’ military began major combat operations in Iran,” Trump said in a video message posted on social media as he spent the weekend at his Florida golf club. “We are going to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground… We’re going to annihilate their navy.”
Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz described the operation as a “preventive strike,” saying it was necessary to protect Israel and its allies from Iranian capabilities.
Trump offered what he called a stark choice to Iran’s armed forces, promising “immunity” to those who stand down and “certain death” to those who resist, while telling Iranians that “the hour of your freedom is at hand.”
Iranian state television reported that President Masoud Pezeshkian was “safe and sound” following the strikes. The Fars news agency said at least seven missile impacts were recorded in Tehran’s Keshvardoost and Pasteur districts.
“I saw with my own eyes two Tomahawk missiles flying horizontally toward targets,” an office worker in Tehran told journalists on condition of anonymity. “At first we heard a dull noise and thought it was a fighter jet.”
Journalists in Tehran reported multiple blasts and saw two large plumes of smoke rising over the city centre. Iran’s health ministry said ambulances were deployed, though there was no immediate confirmation of casualties.
As the strikes unfolded, Iran, Iraq and Israel closed their airspaces to civilian traffic. US embassies in Qatar and Bahrain advised American citizens to take shelter, while sirens sounded in Jerusalem and Israeli authorities sent emergency alerts to residents’ mobile phones.
The strikes came amid the largest US military build-up in the Middle East in decades, including the deployment of the USS USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, toward Israel’s coast.
A day after US-Iran talks in Geneva, Trump said Tehran was “not willing to give us what we have to have.” However, Oman, which mediated the discussions, painted a more optimistic picture, saying Iran had agreed to zero stockpiling of uranium and to convert existing stockpiles into fuel.
Oman’s foreign minister, Badr Albusaidi, said the steps would effectively sidestep disputes over enrichment levels. He spoke while visiting Washington for talks that included meetings with US Vice President JD Vance.
Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi cautioned against further escalation, saying that “success in this path requires seriousness and realism from the other side and avoidance of any miscalculation and excessive demands.”
Meanwhile, the US State Department announced that Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to Israel for high-level talks on Iran. In a rare departure from tradition, Rubio will make the trip without reporters accompanying him.
In his recent State of the Union address, Trump alleged that Iran was developing missiles capable of striking the United States. Rubio later warned that it would be a “very big problem” if Iran refused to discuss its missile programme, a position Tehran has rejected, insisting talks remain focused on nuclear issues.
The UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, said it would hold technical discussions with Iran and urged Tehran to cooperate “constructively” amid the escalating crisis.
The strikes also come weeks after Iranian authorities violently suppressed mass protests, resulting in thousands of deaths, further complicating already fragile diplomatic efforts.
