By Associated Press
The United States and Israel launched an attack Saturday on Iran, with the first apparent strike happening near the offices of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Iranian media reported strikes nationwide, and smoke could be seen rising from the capital.
President Donald Trump said in a video posted on social media that the U.S. had begun “major combat operations in Iran.” He claimed Iran has continued to develop its nuclear program and plans to develop missiles to reach the U.S.
Ahead of the strikes, Trump has built up the largest U.S. military presence in the Middle East in decades and repeatedly threatened to use force to compel Iran to reach a deal to constrain its nuclear program and, earlier, to halt its bloody crackdown on nationwide protests.
Within hours of the joint U.S. and Israeli strike on Iran, Ali Vaez, who directs the Iran Project at the International Crisis Group, warned that the war could likely escalate.
Vaez on social media stressed that Iran had been preparing for the conflict and that wider war could break out across the Middle East.
He also stressed that the war could lead to higher energy costs, which would undercut one of Trump’s domestic political messages that gasoline prices have been lower since his return to the White House.
“Iran sits along the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly a fifth of the world’s oil supply passes,” Vaez posted. “Even limited disruption could spike energy prices, fuel inflation, and rattle global markets.”
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard says in retaliation against Israel and U.S. attacks on Iran, the military struck several facilities in the region.
The Revolutionary Guard said in a statement that in the first phase of the operation, named “Truthful Promise 4,” Iran’s military struck the command of the U.S. 5th Fleet in Bahrain, as well as U.S. bases in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates and military targets in Israel. There have been no reports of damage in these areas apart from one death in the United Arab Emirates.
It said Iranian attacks with missiles and drones are continuing and more information will be released later.
