Operation Epic Fury
Missiles explode in Tehran(Image: Anadolu via Getty Images)
In an early hours address US time, President Donald Trump announced America and Israel had launched military strikes on Iran designed to target the country’s weapons facilities.
The President spoke of ‘major combat operations’ to ‘defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime’. In a wide-ranging address, he described the regime as ‘a vicious group of very hard, terrible people’.
He referenced previous attacks on the US embassy in Tehran, bombings in Beirut and an attack on USS Coal.
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“It’s been mass terror. And we’re not going to put up with it any longer,” Trump said. “We are going to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground. It will be totally, again, obliterated. We are going to annihilate their navy.”
The President also appealed to members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, the armed forces and ‘all of the police’ in Iran, adding: “I say tonight that you must lay down your weapons and have complete immunity.”
Trump leaves Air Force One(Image: AP)
Shortly after 6am Uk time, media in Iran reported explosions in Tehran, with images filed by photographers capturing some rising over the city. It’s not yet known whether there have been any injuries or deaths, although it appears likely.
Iran closed its airspace immediately.
Trump went on to call on the Iranian people to ‘take over your government’. He urged Iranians to take cover during the strikes, but added: “When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take.”
The first strikes appeared to target the compound of Iran’s 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in central Tehran. It was not clear if he was there at the time. Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported that one strike at a girls’ school in Minab in Hormozgan province had killed 40 people. Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard has a base in the city.
Tehran on Saturday morning(Image: Anadolu via Getty Images)
The violence quickly expanded with the Revolutionary Guard saying it had responded by launching a ‘first wave’ of drones and missiles targeting Israel, where a nationwide warning was issued as the military said it was bringing down Iranian fire.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry said the country ‘will not hesitate’ in its response, adding: “The time has come to defend the homeland and confront the enemy’s military assault.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attack aimed to ‘remove an existential threat posed’ by Iran. “Our joint operation will create the conditions for the brave Iranian people to take their fate into their own hands,” he said.
Explosions rocked Israel as the country worked to intercept incoming Iranian missiles. There was no immediate word news on any damage or casualties. Elsewhere, Bahrain said a missile attack had targeted the US Navy’s 5th Fleet headquarters in the island kingdom, witnesses heard sirens and explosions in Kuwait, home to US Army Central, and explosions were heard in Qatar.
People take cover in an underground light rail station amid reports of incoming missiles in Tel Aviv(Image: Getty Images)
Iraq and the United Arab Emirates closed their air space, and sirens sounded in Jordan, and the UAE said one person had been killed by falling shrapnel.
The action follows mounting tension in the region, with the US deploying a fleet of warships and aircraft to pressure Tehran. Talks between the US and Iran regarding Tehran’s nuclear programme ended on Thursday without agreement.
Israeli authorities said the strikes have been dubbed Operation Roaring Lion by Israel and Operation Epic Fury by the US.
Explosions have been heard in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait. The defence ministry of the United Arab Emirates has said in a statement that the country has been subjected to a “a blatant attack involving Iranian ballistic missiles”. Israeli air defense systems intercepted and destroyed several missiles over the skies of Jerusalem, after the Israeli army announced that it had detected a retaliatory missile attack from Iran.
Smoke rises after Iran carried out a missile strike on the main headquarters of the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet in Manama, Bahrain(Image: Anadolu via Getty Images)
It’s reported the UAE intercepted two waves of attacks from Iran. Images of fallen shrapnel after the UAE intercepted Iranian missiles has been released by the nation’s Ministry of Defence.
In the UK, meanwhile, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer chaired a meeting of the Government’s emergency Cobra committee on Saturday morning. It is understood the UK was not involved in the US and Israeli strikes on Iran.
The UK Government said its priority is “the safety of UK nationals” in the Middle East but that it is “ready to protect our interests”.
A Government spokesperson said: “Iran must never be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon and that is why we have continually supported efforts to reach a negotiated solution. Our immediate priority is the safety of UK nationals in the region and we will provide them with consular assistance, available 24/7.
“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. We do not want to see further escalation into a wider regional conflict.”
Israeli air defense systems intercepted and destroyed several missiles over the skies of Jerusalem(Image: Anadolu via Getty Images)
The UK Foreign Office went on to warn against all travel to Israel and Palestine.
The Foreign Office also updated travel advice for UK nationals in Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait, warning people to ‘immediately shelter in place’. The advice on the FCDO website said: “Remain indoors in a secure location, avoid all travel and follow instructions from the local authorities.”
Some flights to and from destinations in the Middle East have been suspended ‘with immediate effect’ after Israel and the US launched attacks on Iran.
WizzAir, Qatar Airways and Virgin Atlantic have all cancelled services to the region on Saturday.
Virgin said it has cancelled its VS400 service from Heathrow to Dubai, which was due to depart at 10.10pm, ‘as a precautionary measure’. British Airways said it has cancelled flights to Tel Aviv and Bahrain until March 3 and Emirates has suspended operations to an from Dubai.
Demonstrations, meanhile, were being held in the centre of Manchester on Saturday afternoon.
