Eight months after the last war, Israel and the United States have launched an unprecedented joint attack against Iran. The Israeli defense minister, Israel Katz, announced it unexpectedly around 08:00 local time, and since early in the morning explosions have been heard in Tehran, the Iranian capital.

U.S. President Donald Trump has confirmed that it is a “major” joint operation and has urged the Iranian people to take power once it ends. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had been pressuring Trump for a regime change in Iran, has stated that this war will be more powerful than the one that began in June and aims to eliminate the “existential threat regime” in Tehran. The consequences of the strikes are still unknown, and Iran has been left without telephone or internet connection.

“[Iran] rejected every opportunity to renounce their nuclear ambitions, and we can’t take it anymore,” Trump said in a video released through the Truth Social network. “The lives of courageous American heroes may be lost and we may have casualties that often happens in war, but we’re doing this, not for now. We’re doing this for the future, and it is a noble mission.”

A source from the U.S. administration told Reuters that the operation will last several days.

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Trump on US attacks on Iran

According to the U.S. president, Iran “attempted to rebuild their nuclear program and to continue developing long range missiles that can now threaten our very good friends and allies in Europe, our troops stationed overseas, and could soon reach the American homeland.”

The ultimate goal appears to be regime change, as both the U.S. president and the Israeli prime minister have stated in their respective addresses. Donald Trump has promised to “annihilate” the Iranian Navy, the country’s nuclear and missile programs, and “certain death” for members of the armed forces, the police, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps if they do not surrender.

The U.S. president also issued a call to the Iranian people to rise up against their government. “The hour of your freedom is at hand,” he declared. “ When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will be, probably, your only chance for generations.” And he reiterated: “This is the moment for action. Do not let it pass.”

Along the same lines, Netanyahu made a direct appeal to Iranians in general to take power: “Our joint action will create the conditions for the courageous Iranian people to take their destiny into their own hands.”

“Help has arrived,” he said in English — in the middle of a speech in Hebrew — echoing the message that Trump sent to demonstrators in Iran in January, during the days of repression that followed the protests in December.

Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded to the military aggression by stating that the country “will not hesitate” to respond.

“The time has come to defend the homeland and confront the enemy’s military assault,” the ministry said in a statement posted on X. “Just as we were prepared for negotiations, we have been even more prepared for defense at all times. The armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will decisively respond to the aggressors with full authority.”

Israel has declared a state of emergency and closed its airspace, as has Iraq.

In different parts of Israel and in neighboring countries such as Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan, Iranian missiles were intercepted. In Jerusalem, air-raid alerts sounded twice within five minutes, followed by explosions. No injuries have been reported.