This attack on Iran was launched by the same Donald Trump who promised American voters “no new foreign wars” and railed against previous American attempts at regime change – in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Iran’s foreign ministry called on Muslim and non-aligned states to demand an urgent meeting of the UN security council, pointing out that the US-Israeli strikes on Saturday were the second such attack in a year while Iran was in the middle of sensitive negotiations over its nuclear programme.
Iranian official says 85 people killed after strike hits girls' school.
The talks were designed to set up a verifiable process whereby Iran could not acquire the materials for a nuclear bomb. The chief mediator in the talks, Oman’s foreign minister, Badr Albusaidi, had said on Friday that he believed peace was within reach.
After the first wave of Israeli attacks in Tehran on Saturday morning, officials insisted the leadership, including the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and the president, Masoud Pezeshkian, were safe, despite an attempt to assassinate them in the bombings. Khamenei’s office in the capital looked to be a charred ruin, judging by satellite images.
Apparent Iranian attacks have been reported in Dubai, Doha, Bahrain, Kuwait - places with US military bases, or that are allied to the US - and elsewhere.
The Iranian military confirmed that it had sent drones and fired short-range missiles at al-Udeid airbase in Qatar, the Ali al-Salem base in Kuwait,al-Dhafra airbase in the United Arab Emirates, the Prince Sultain airbase in Riyadh, the US base in Erbil, northern Iraq, the Muwaffaq Salti airbase in Jordan, and the US Fifth fleet base in Bahrain.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE issued statements condemning Iranian violation of their sovereignty, and warning of their right to take reprisals.
Iran has launched a barrage of retaliatory missiles aimed at Israel and US bases across the region, denouncing the two countries’ airstrikes as a breach of the UN charter and an act of flagrant aggression designed to end any possibility of a diplomatic resolution.
Verified footage shows a missile appearing to fall uncontrollably, external, possibly after being intercepted, in a residential area of Qatar.
The person filming can be heard saying, "Move to the side, run!" The camera then pans to show dozens of people running away and screaming as the missile falls. A huge fireball erupts as the missile hits the ground and a dark black plume of smoke follows as people continue running.
The man then briefly turns the camera and says, "it’s just in front of my room" before saying "may God protect us".
Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a statement, external strongly condemning Iran for "targeting of Qatari territory with Iranian ballistic missiles" and said it considers it "a flagrant violation of its national sovereignty, a direct infringement on its security and territorial integrity" and an "unacceptable escalation".
Iranian state TV earlier showed footage of the damaged school in Minab. The BBC has verified its location
Vice President JD Vance was in the Situation Room at the White House last night monitoring the US attack on Iran, according to a source familiar with the matter who asked not to be named.
Vance was joined by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Energy Secretary Chris Wright.
The group was dialled into a conference line with President Trump and his national security team, who were monitoring the strikes from the president's Florida estate Mar-a-Lago. (BBC report)
Earlier, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) put out an urgent alert on its Farsi page on X, warning "all personnel" in an industrial zone in Iran's Isfahan region to "immediately evacuate".
A translation of the post says: "In a few minutes, the Israeli army will attack military infrastructures in this zone".
Residents of Mazraeh, a village in the province, were told to stay inside their homes until the morning, and to avoid approaching the industrial zone after the attack.
Isfahan is home to important nuclear and military-industrial facilities.
President Trump’s appetite for foreign military intervention has increased since his bombing campaign against Iran last year and the capture of Venezuela’s president last month. No Americans were killed in either of those limited actions.
The attack on Iran is on an entirely different scale. And he is warning of the likelihood of American casualties as a result of this operation, even if the plan seems to be to remove the regime in Tehran without putting American boots on the ground.
Many of his own supporters may feel that this is not what they voted for.
American presidents usually rely on vote in Congress to give them the authority to launch this kind of military offensive. Donald Trump did not consult them.
Trump also did not use a more traditional television address to the nation to explain why he felt the need to take action. Instead, he used a short video posted on social media at 02:30 in the morning to inform the American people that he had launched a massive attack against Iran.
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| Frontline magazine image |
Despite rumours that the commander-in-chief of the army, Maj Gen, Amir Hatami, had been killed, it did not initially appear that the attacks had managed to target its leadership on the same scale as it did last June.
But the fate of the Revolutionary Guards commander, Mohammad Pakpour, was in doubt, and the home of the leading reformist and former prime minister Mir Hossein Mousavi was badly damaged.
We cannot know where this foolish, reckless attack will end – but new hatreds will be seeded, terrorist vendettas sown and, ultimately, little will be achieved.
There are certain differences, the similarities between Donald Trump’s siege of Iran and George W Bush’s disastrous 2003 invasion of Iraq are striking. Both crises fit a wider pattern of ultimately unsuccessful, costly US interventionism dating back to Vietnam – and the 1953 CIA-led Iran coup. Trump promised to avoid foreign adventures. Surprise! He lied ==
-- writes Simon Tisdall in 'The Guardian' newspaper.
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