The United States and Israel have launched a series of coordinated air and missile strikes across Iran, in what President Donald Trump has described as a “major combat operation” to eliminate an “imminent threat.”Explosions were reported in the capital, Tehran, as well as several other major cities including Isfahan, Qom, and Karaj, in the early hours of Saturday. The operation, reportedly codenamed “Epic Fury” by the US military, follows weeks of escalating tensions and a significant military build-up in the region. In a video address posted on social media, President Trump said the strikes aimed to “raze the Iranian missile industry to the ground” and prevent the country from acquiring nuclear weapons. “The hour of your freedom is at hand,” he told the Iranian people, in an apparent call for regime change.
The ‘last-ditch’ diplomatic effort
The military action comes despite a flurry of secret, high-stakes diplomacy in the days leading up to the attack. Oman’s Foreign Minister, Badr Albusaidi, revealed he had held urgent “last-ditch” meetings with US officials in Washington just 24 hours before the strikes began. According to Mr Albusaidi, a breakthrough deal had been “within reach” during mediated talks in Geneva earlier this week. He disclosed that Iran had made a series of unprecedented concessions, including:
A permanent end to enriched uranium stockpiles: A commitment never to hold such material again.Irreversible downgrades: The permanent destruction or removal of existing enriched stockpiles.Total transparency: A guarantee of full verification and monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).”These proposals were better than the 2015 deal,” Mr Albusaidi told CBS News, referring to the JCPOA agreement from which Mr Trump withdrew during his first term. The Omani diplomat had pleaded for more time, suggesting that even non-nuclear issues, such as ballistic missiles, could have been settled in separate regional talks.
A region on a knife-edge
The White House appears to have rejected the Omani-brokered offer, with officials reportedly “disappointed” by the pace of negotiations. President Trump has repeatedly claimed that Iranian facilities were already “obliterated” in previous, more limited strikes, and insisted that only “massive” force would now suffice.Iran’s state media has confirmed that President Masoud Pezeshkian is safe, but officials in Tehran have already vowed a “crushing” retaliation.As air raid sirens sound in Jerusalem and US embassies across the Middle East order personnel to shelter in place, the region now faces its most dangerous moment in decades.
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