TRUMP AND ISRAEL STRIKE IRAN — MASSIVE OPERATION TARGETS NUCLEAR THREAT AS TEHRAN RETALIATES

In a decisive show of force, the United States and Israel launched what President Donald J. Trump called a “massive operation” to cripple Iran’s military capabilities and eliminate the regime’s nuclear ambitions once and for all.

Explosions rocked Tehran early Saturday as Israeli aircraft and U.S. assets targeted Iranian military installations, intelligence centers, and symbols of regime power. One early strike reportedly hit near offices linked to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, whose whereabouts were initially unclear. Iranian officials later claimed both Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian are alive.

President Trump framed the operation as the culmination of months of pressure on Tehran to accept a nuclear restraint deal. Instead of compliance, the regime chose defiance — prompting Washington to surge warships into the region and coordinate closely with Israel.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard responded with drone and missile attacks aimed at Israel and U.S. military installations in Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar. Air raid sirens wailed across Israeli cities as missile defense systems intercepted incoming threats.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the strikes were conducted “to remove threats,” emphasizing that Iran’s military infrastructure — not civilians — was the target. However, Iranian state media reported casualties, including dozens killed at a girls’ school in southern Iran. The circumstances surrounding that incident remain contested amid the fog of war.

The escalation marks the most direct confrontation between the United States, Israel, and Iran in decades. For years, Tehran has funded terror proxies, threatened regional allies, and advanced its nuclear program despite international warnings. Saturday’s coordinated offensive signals that the era of appeasement has ended.

As counterstrikes continue and tensions surge across the Gulf, the message from Washington and Jerusalem is unmistakable: a nuclear-armed Iran will not be tolerated — and the free world is prepared to act decisively to stop it.