World on edge as US, Israel attack Iran, Tehran retaliates across M/East

US President, Donald Trump, has announced that a major combat operation was underway after the US-Israel joint military strike on Iran, yesterday, even as he called for a regime change.

The strikes dubbed ‘Operation Epic Fury’, which targeted Tehran’s military and nuclear sites, followed months of futile nuclear talks between US and Iran.

At press time, the death toll from an attack on a school in Iran’s south rose to 85 , the Iranian judiciary said.

“The number of martyrs at the girls’ school in Minab has increased to 85,” the judiciary’s Mizan Online website quoted the area’s prosecutor’s office as saying.

Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency said rescue workers were still clearing debris from the school site, where the strike caused heavy civilian casualties. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted a photo of the damaged building on X, stating it had killed “innocent children.”

“These crimes against the Iranian People will not go unanswered,” Araghchi wrote.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei described the strike as a “blatant crime” and called on the United Nations Security Council to take action.

Separately, Iran’s Mehr news agency reported that at least two students were killed in another Israeli strike on a school east of Tehran.

Meanwhile, Tehran responded with retaliatory explosions hitting northern Israel and multiple Gulf Arab states that house US military bases in an attempt to draw them into the war.

Recall that Washington and Tehran have been engaging in talks over Iran’s nuclear enrichment in the weeks before the joint strikes.

A third round of indirect negotiations wrapped up earlier this month without a breakthrough, with both sides publicly saying that gaps remained over uranium enrichment limits and Iran’s ballistic-missile programme.

Oman’s foreign minister even announced a breakthrough on February 27, saying Iran had agreed never to stockpile enriched uranium and to accept full IAEA verification, but U.S. demands for a permanent end to enrichment and missile constraints hadn’t been resolved.

At the same time, Trump kept building up forces in the region, aircraft carriers, extra fighters, and missile-defense assets , and warned he was “not happy” with the diplomatic pace. The administration had stated that the talks were the last chance to stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, while Tehran insisted its programme was peaceful and refused to negotiate missiles.

Attack aimed at eliminating imminent threat – Trump

Speaking shortly after the strikes, President Trump said the joint attacks were aimed at “eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime”.

“A short time ago, the US military began a major combat operation in Iran. Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime, a vicious group of very hard, terrible people. Its menacing activities directly endanger the United States, our troops, our bases overseas and our allies throughout the world,” Trump said.

Trump acknowledged that the operation could result in casualties of U.S. troops, but said “we’re doing this for the future, and it is a noble mission.”

“We pray for every service member as they selflessly risk their lives to ensure that Americans and our children will never be threatened by a nuclear-armed Iran.

We are going to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground,” Trump said.
He said the U.S. had “sought repeatedly to make a deal” but Iran “rejected every opportunity to renounce their nuclear ambitions.”

He told the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps to lay down their arms or face “certain death.”

Assuring Iranians of America’s backing for regime change, Trump said: “Bombs will be dropping everywhere. When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take; this will be probably your only chance for generations.

“America is backing you with overwhelming strength and devastating force. Now is the time to seize control of your destiny.”

Netanyahu backs regime change

Echoing the same sentiment, Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said the attacks on Iran aimed to remove an “existential threat”.

Netanyahu projected that the joint action by Israel and the US “will create the conditions for the brave Iranian people to take their fate into their own hands” and praised Trump for his historic leadership.
“Our joint action will create the conditions for the brave Iranian people to take their destiny into their own hands,” Netanyahu said in a video.

One of the areas reportedly targeted in Iran’s capital was near the offices of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamene. Khamenei is not in Tehran and has been transferred to a secure location, according to an official quoted by Reuters.

Explosions in Israel, Bahrain, UAE, Kuwait as Tehran retaliates

A senior Iranian official told Al Jazeera that “all American and Israeli assets and interests in the Middle East have become a legitimate target” and that “there are no red lines after this aggression”.

Explosions have meanwhile rocked northern Israel as the country worked to intercept incoming Iranian missiles shortly after it attacked Iran. The blasts echoed just after the Israeli military said it would be using its air defence systems to bring down the Iranian fire.

There was no immediate word on any casualties or damage from the ongoing attack.

Blasts also occurred across numerous Gulf Arab states that host US military assets, including Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. Iran’s Fars News Agency confirmed the country had carried out attacks targeting military bases in each of the states, including Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar and the headquarters of the US Navy’s 5th Fleet in Bahrain.

Qatar’s Defence Ministry said it had “successfully thwarted a number of attacks targeting the country’s territory”, after several rounds of alerts sounded.
IRGC says Iran’s military operation to continue ‘until the enemy is decisively defeated’

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed that all Israeli and US military targets in the Middle East have been struck “by the powerful blows of Iranian missiles”.

This operation will continue relentlessly until the enemy is decisively defeated,” it said.
All US assets throughout the region are considered legitimate targets for Iran’s army, it added.

Airspace closed, airlines halt flights

The development has triggered an outburst of regional violence, forcing much of the Middle East’s airspace to shut down and reverberating across the globe.

At least eight states, including Iran, Israel, Iraq, Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, declared their airspace closed as the conflict erupted. Syria also announced it had closed part of its airspace in the south along its border with Israel for 12 hours.

World leaders react

Meanwhile, the Saturday morning strikes by U.S. and Israeli forces against Iranian nuclear and military sites have once again split the international community, with Middle East countries condemning the raids as illegal violations that risk dragging the region into wider war.

Several Western and allied governments, on the other hand, hailed the joint action, saying that it was a necessary step to stop Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

From London’s blunt warning that Iran “must never be allowed” a bomb to Kyiv’s blame of the Iranian regime and Moscow’s demand for an immediate halt, reactions range from outright endorsement to calls for restraint, mediation and preparations for potential fallout among Gulf states.

UK says Iran ‘must never be allowed’ nuclear weapons

Reacting, the UK government reiterated its position that Iran must never be allowed to develop nuclear weapons, saying that it was ready to protect its interests.

A government source said Britain had not taken part in the strikes and that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer held an emergency response meeting.

“Iran must never be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon and that is why we have continually supported efforts to reach a negotiated solution,” a government spokesperson said in a statement.

“As part of our longstanding commitments to the security of our allies in the Middle East, we have a range of defensive capabilities in the region, which we have recently bolstered. We stand ready to protect our interests,” the spokesperson said, even as the Foreign Office called for British nationals in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE to shelter in place.

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said the current escalation in Iran was the fault of authorities in the country, adding that Kyiv stood with the Iranian people and repeating calls for a change of government there.
“The cause of the current events is precisely the violence and impunity of the Iranian regime, in particular the killings and repression of peaceful protesters, which have become particularly widespread in recent months,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Germany, France, Britain

Germany, France and Britain condemned Iranian attacks on countries in the region on Saturday, saying Iran must refrain from indiscriminate military strikes and resume negotiations.

“We condemn Iranian attacks on countries in the region in the strongest terms,” French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a joint statement.

“We call for a resumption of negotiations and urge the Iranian leadership to seek a negotiated solution. Ultimately, the Iranian people must be allowed to determine their future,” they said.
Condemning the attack, Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said the country reserved the right to respond following the Iranian attack, in accordance with international law.

culled from vanguard