WASHINGTON, D.C. — The United States and Israel have launched a major military offensive against Iran, marking a dramatic escalation in Middle East tensions.
President Donald Trump confirmed Saturday afternoon that Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, has been killed in the targeted strikes by the U.S. and Israel. Dozens of top, senior-ranking Iranian officials are reported to have been killed as well.
“Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime — a vicious group of very, hard terrible people,” Trump said in a video shared to Truth Social early Saturday morning. “We sought repeatedly to make a deal. We tried, they wanted to do it, they didn’t want to do it, again, they wanted to do it, they didn’t want to do it. They didn’t know what was happening. They just wanted to practice evil.”
“They rejected every opportunity to renounce their nuclear ambitions, and we can’t take it anymore,” Trump added in the video.
The attacks unfolded in the early hours of Saturday morning on the East Coast and in broad daylight in Iran. The offensive has been dubbed “Operation Epic Fury.” U.S. and Israeli forces are believed to be prepared for several days of continued operations.
In retaliation, Iran’s military has launched missile and drone strikes across the region and at Israeli and U.S. targets, including bases in the Gulf. Explosions have been reported in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and other states hosting U.S. assets. U.S. Central Command confirmed Sunday that three U.S. service members have been killed in action and five “are seriously wounded as part of Operation Epic Fury.”
The State Department has also issued guidance for Americans worldwide, especially in the Middle East. The State Department has advised Americans in the region to monitor updates from the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate. Officials are also urging Americans worldwide to exercise increased caution.
We spoke with a former Israeli national security adviser on the ground in Israel while sheltering in a bunker. They told our Washington correspondent Brendan Scanland that they are safe and that many Israelis have been preparing for tensions with Iran to reach a tipping point for the past several weeks.
President Trump said Saturday the operation’s success is “the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their country.”
Dr. Majid Sadeghpour is the political director for the Organization of Iranian American Communities. Sadeghpour has family and friends on the ground in Iran, who he said he has spoken with recently.
“I would have to tell you, it’s not my own feeling because it is kind of ironic. It is very difficult. We are conflicted in having our nation, a country that we hold dear, being bombed by a foreign power,” Sadeghpour said. “But at the same time … if these predators are killed, that is happy news for all of mankind. Certainly, that is the message that our family members have given us from inside Iran.”
Sadeghpour, a supporter of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, is no stranger to the atrocities that have taken place at the hands of the ayatollah. His brother was executed by the regime in 1988. The killing of Iran’s supreme leader happens to occur on a day that carries heavy emotions for he and his family.
“Today is the anniversary of the passing of my mom, who passed with a great deal of pain in her heart — with her children tortured and her son executed in the 1988 massacre — carrying a significant amount of pain. It is on that very day Khamenei is killed,” Sadeghpour said.
“I don’t know what I can feel inside me — but be emotional in that many mothers inside Iran who lost — in this very last uprising, tens of thousands lost their children — I don’t want to speak for them, but I certainly think they would be happy that Ali Khamenei is dead. It’s a great win for all of mankind.”
Sadeghpour said that foreign military intervention alone cannot bring the type of regime change that the Iranian people yearn for. Instead, he says the change must come from within Iran, adding that the best way to support regime change is by supporting the resistance from within.
“But the ultimate solution still remains the same,” he said. “We can weaken this regime from afar. But foreign military intervention cannot bring about a peaceful transition of power to a secular democracy in Iran. That needs to occur by the people of Iran. The ultimate solution is the overthrow of this regime by the people of Iran who will determine Iran’s destiny,” Sadeghpour added.
Reaction from federal lawmakers is split. Some members of Congress were reportedly planning to vote next week on a War Powers resolution to limit the president’s authority to carry out strikes against Iran.
