By Phil Stewart, Parisa Hafezi and Menna AlaaElDin
WASHINGTON/DUBAI/CAIRO, Feb 28 (Reuters) – The United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran on Saturday, plunging the Middle East into a new conflict that President Donald Trump said would end a security threat to the United States and offer Iranians a chance to topple their rulers.
Iran launched missiles towards Israel, Israel’s military said, and the Pentagon said the U.S. strikes against Iran were named “OPERATION EPIC FURY.”
The renewed confrontation between Iran and its long-time foes threatened to further dim hopes for a diplomatic solution to Tehran’s nuclear dispute with the West.
TRUMP CITES 1979 HOSTAGE CRISIS
In a video message published on social media, Trump cited Washington’s decades-long dispute with Iran, including the seizure of the 1979 U.S. embassy in Tehran, when students held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days, as well as a range of other attacks the U.S. has blamed on Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution brought the clerics to power.
He urged Iranians to stay sheltered because “bombs will be dropping everywhere”. But he also added: “When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will be probably your only chance for generations.”
The U.S. military initiated a series of strikes against targets in Iran, two U.S. officials told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity. The scope of the air and sea operations was not immediately clear. The campaign is expected to last for multiple days, said a U.S. official.
Iran was preparing a crushing retaliation, an Iranian official told Reuters.
Trump had built up a vast U.S. military presence in the region to try to force Tehran to make concessions in nuclear talks. He said the U.S. had launched a “massive and ongoing” operation against the Islamic Republic, vowing to ensure Tehran will not obtain a nuclear weapon.
Iran’s ballistic missile programme has been a significant sticking point in negotiations. Trump said Iran was developing long-range missiles that threaten the U.S. and threatened to raze its missile industry.
“Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime,” Trump said.
ISRAEL URGES IRANIANS TO REMOVE ‘YOKE OF TYRANNY’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the joint U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran “will create the conditions for the brave Iranian people to take their destiny into their own hands.”
“The time has come for all sections of the people in Iran … to remove the yoke of tyranny from (the regime) and bring a free and peace-loving Iran,” Netanyahu said in a statement.
A source told Reuters that Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was not in Tehran and had been transferred to a secure location.
The attack follows a 12-day air war in June between Israel and Iran and repeated U.S.-Israeli warnings that they would strike again if Iran pressed ahead with its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.
“The State of Israel launched a pre-emptive attack against Iran to remove threats to the State of Israel,” Defence Minister Israel Katz said.
Israel launched the attack against Muslim-majority Iran during Ramadan, the holy Muslim month of fasting observed from dawn to sunset. The strike also came ahead of the Jewish holiday of Purim, which traditionally commemorates the salvation of Jews from annihilation in ancient Persia and which begins on Monday.
MONTHS OF PLANNING WITH US, ISRAEL SAYS
An Israeli defence official said the operation had been planned for months in coordination with Washington, and that the launch date was decided weeks ago.
Explosions were heard in Tehran on Saturday, Iranian media reported, and sirens sounded across Israel around 0815 a.m. local time in what the military said was a proactive alert to prepare the public for the possibility of an incoming missile strike.
The Israeli military announced the closure of schools and workplaces, with exceptions for essential sectors, and a ban on public airspace. Israel closed its airspace to civilian flights, and the airports authority asked the public not to go to any of the country’s airports.
The U.S. and Iran renewed negotiations in February to try to resolve the decades-long nuclear dispute through diplomacy and avert the threat of a military confrontation that could destabilise the region.
Israel, however, said any U.S. deal with Iran must include the dismantling of Tehran’s nuclear infrastructure, not just stopping the enrichment process, and lobbied Washington to include restrictions on Iran’s missile programme in the talks.
Iran said it was prepared to discuss curbs on its nuclear programme in exchange for lifting sanctions but ruled out linking the issue to missiles.
Tehran also said it would defend itself against any attack. It warned neighbouring countries hosting U.S. troops that it would retaliate against American bases if Washington struck Iran.
Last June, the U.S. joined an Israeli military campaign against Iranian nuclear installations, in the most direct American military action ever against the Islamic Republic.
Tehran retaliated then by launching missiles toward the U.S. Al Udeid air base in Qatar, the largest in the Middle East.
Western powers have warned that Iran’s ballistic missile project threatens regional stability and could deliver nuclear weapons if developed. Tehran denies seeking atomic bombs.
(Reporting by Reuters bureaux; Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Barbara Lewis, Sam Holmes and Timothy Heritage)
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