US and Israel launch strikes on Iran, explosions reported across region

The United States and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Saturday, with Israel’s public broadcaster reporting that supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had been targeted, as the Islamic republic retaliated with barrages of missiles at Gulf states and Israel.Explosions were heard in the capitals of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and the UAE — all countries that host US forces. Blasts were also reported in the skies over Jerusalem after the Israeli military said a “barrage of missiles was launched” towards the country.The US and Israeli attacks followed weeks of sabre-rattling and a major American military build-up in the Middle East, with Iran repeatedly threatening to react fiercely to any attack and warning of a conflict that would engulf the region.Smoke was rising over Tehran’s Pasteur district, site of the home of Khamenei, and there was a huge security deployment in the capital.”Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian were among the targets of the attack,” Israel’s Kan reported, citing an Israeli source.Iranian state television said Pezeshkian was “safe and sound”, while the Fars news agency said “missile impacts were reported in the Keshvardoost and Pasteur districts” of Tehran.Witnesses told AFP correspondents they had heard at least three blasts in the area.The attacks came after US President Donald Trump expressed frustration at Iran’s stance in negotiations over its nuclear and missile programmes.Trump said Washington’s goal was “eliminating imminent threats” from Iran, and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the operation was to remove an “existential threat”.”The United States’ military began major combat operations in Iran,” Trump said in a video message posted on his social media site while he spent the weekend at his Florida golf club.- Totally ‘obliterated’ -“We are going to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground. It will be totally, again, obliterated. We’re going to annihilate their navy,” Trump said, warning of the possibility of US casualties.He offered Iranian forces including the Revolutionary Guards “immunity” should they surrender, or “certain death” if not, and told Iranians the “hour of your freedom is at hand”, urging them to rise up and “take over your government”.Israel’s Netanyahu echoed this call, telling Iranians that the time had come to “cast off the yoke of tyranny”.The Israeli army warned Iranians in or around military infrastructure across Iran to evacuate after announcing it was conducting a “broad strike” on multiple military targets.Iran again vowed to “respond decisively to the aggressors”, and the Guards announced they had targeted the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain as well as targets in Israel.”The IRGC’s missiles and drones have struck the headquarters of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet in Bahrain and other American bases in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, as well as military and security centres in the heart of the occupied territories, with severe blows,” the Guards said in a statement.”I saw with my own eyes two Tomahawk missiles flying horizontally toward targets,” an office worker told AFP on condition of anonymity. “At first we heard a dull noise and thought it was a fighter jet.”In Tehran, AFP journalists heard blasts and saw smoke rising over the city centre. The health ministry said ambulances had been dispatched but there was no immediate confirmation of casualties.Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Syria, the UAE and Israel all closed their airspaces to civilian traffic, at least in part, and a number of airlines cancelled flights to the Middle East. US embassies in the Gulf urged American citizens to take shelter.- Blasts and sirens -Blasts were heard over Jerusalem after air raid sirens sounded, with sirens also heard in Bahrain, home to a US fleet, and in the Jordanian capital Amman.Jordan’s air force said it was conducting an operation “to defend the kingdom’s skies”.Explosions were also heard over central Doha and near Al-Udeid military base, the largest US military facility in the region, and an AFP journalist saw an interceptor take out one missile in a puff of white smoke, as Qatar’s defence ministry said in a statement it had “repelled a number of attacks”.Kuwait and the UAE also reported intercepting incoming Iranian missiles, with Abu Dhabi saying it “reserves its full right to respond” and slamming the attacks as “a dangerous escalation”.A bombing that targeted an Iraqi military base housing a pro-Iran group killed at least two fighters, sources from the powerful group Kataeb Hezbollah told AFP.With the strikes underway, the exiled son of Iran’s last shah voiced confidence in victory against the Islamic republic. “We are very close to final victory. I want to be by your side as soon as possible so that together we can take back and rebuild Iran,” Reza Pahlavi, who lives in the Washington area, said in an online video address.burs-dc/smw/ser

US and Israel launch strikes on Iran, explosions reported across region

The United States and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Saturday, with Israel’s public broadcaster reporting that supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had been targeted, as the Islamic republic retaliated with barrages of missiles at Gulf states and Israel.Explosions were heard in the capitals of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and the UAE — all countries that host US forces. Blasts were also reported in the skies over Jerusalem after the Israeli military said a “barrage of missiles was launched” towards the country.The US and Israeli attacks followed weeks of sabre-rattling and a major American military build-up in the Middle East, with Iran repeatedly threatening to react fiercely to any attack and warning of a conflict that would engulf the region.Smoke was rising over Tehran’s Pasteur district, site of the home of Khamenei, and there was a huge security deployment in the capital.”Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian were among the targets of the attack,” Israel’s Kan reported, citing an Israeli source.Iranian state television said Pezeshkian was “safe and sound”, while the Fars news agency said “missile impacts were reported in the Keshvardoost and Pasteur districts” of Tehran.Witnesses told AFP correspondents they had heard at least three blasts in the area.The attacks came after US President Donald Trump expressed frustration at Iran’s stance in negotiations over its nuclear and missile programmes.Trump said Washington’s goal was “eliminating imminent threats” from Iran, and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the operation was to remove an “existential threat”.”The United States’ military began major combat operations in Iran,” Trump said in a video message posted on his social media site while he spent the weekend at his Florida golf club.- Totally ‘obliterated’ -“We are going to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground. It will be totally, again, obliterated. We’re going to annihilate their navy,” Trump said, warning of the possibility of US casualties.He offered Iranian forces including the Revolutionary Guards “immunity” should they surrender, or “certain death” if not, and told Iranians the “hour of your freedom is at hand”, urging them to rise up and “take over your government”.Israel’s Netanyahu echoed this call, telling Iranians that the time had come to “cast off the yoke of tyranny”.The Israeli army warned Iranians in or around military infrastructure across Iran to evacuate after announcing it was conducting a “broad strike” on multiple military targets.Iran again vowed to “respond decisively to the aggressors”, and the Guards announced they had targeted the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain as well as targets in Israel.”The IRGC’s missiles and drones have struck the headquarters of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet in Bahrain and other American bases in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, as well as military and security centres in the heart of the occupied territories, with severe blows,” the Guards said in a statement.”I saw with my own eyes two Tomahawk missiles flying horizontally toward targets,” an office worker told AFP on condition of anonymity. “At first we heard a dull noise and thought it was a fighter jet.”In Tehran, AFP journalists heard blasts and saw smoke rising over the city centre. The health ministry said ambulances had been dispatched but there was no immediate confirmation of casualties.Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Syria, the UAE and Israel all closed their airspaces to civilian traffic, at least in part, and a number of airlines cancelled flights to the Middle East. US embassies in the Gulf urged American citizens to take shelter.- Blasts and sirens -Blasts were heard over Jerusalem after air raid sirens sounded, with sirens also heard in Bahrain, home to a US fleet, and in the Jordanian capital Amman.Jordan’s air force said it was conducting an operation “to defend the kingdom’s skies”.Explosions were also heard over central Doha and near Al-Udeid military base, the largest US military facility in the region, and an AFP journalist saw an interceptor take out one missile in a puff of white smoke, as Qatar’s defence ministry said in a statement it had “repelled a number of attacks”.Kuwait and the UAE also reported intercepting incoming Iranian missiles, with Abu Dhabi saying it “reserves its full right to respond” and slamming the attacks as “a dangerous escalation”.A bombing that targeted an Iraqi military base housing a pro-Iran group killed at least two fighters, sources from the powerful group Kataeb Hezbollah told AFP.With the strikes underway, the exiled son of Iran’s last shah voiced confidence in victory against the Islamic republic. “We are very close to final victory. I want to be by your side as soon as possible so that together we can take back and rebuild Iran,” Reza Pahlavi, who lives in the Washington area, said in an online video address.burs-dc/smw/ser

Afghanistan says Pakistan fighter jet down as cross-border strikes flare

Afghanistan said it downed a Pakistan fighter jet and captured its pilot on Saturday, a claim denied by Islamabad a day after it declared an “open war” with its South Asian neighbour.The Afghan military and police said the aircraft was shot down in the eastern city of Jalalabad, but Islamabad’s foreign ministry told AFP that it was “a false claim” and “totally untrue”.Pakistan launched air strikes in several cities and provinces on Friday including the capital Kabul and Kandahar, where Afghan Taliban Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada is based, in a flare-up of cross-border fighting.The United States voiced its diplomatic support for Pakistan’s actions after Islamabad said it would not stop strikes that were meant to pressure the government in Kabul, which it accuses of backing militancy.The Taliban government has denied harbouring militants and its spokesperson has called for “dialogue” to resolve a previously simmering conflict that Pakistan’s defence minister said on Friday was now “open war”.An AFP journalist heard a jet flying over Jalalabad on Saturday, followed by the sound of two explosions from the direction of the Afghan city’s airport.Jalalabad residents told AFP that they saw a person who parachuted from the plane before being detained.The pilot was “captured alive”, said Jalalabad’s police spokesman Tayeb Hammad and the military spokesman in eastern Afghanistan, Wahidullah Mohammadi.The defence ministry in Kabul has also said it carried out air strikes on Pakistani territory over the past two days, which observers said could have been drones.The Taliban government said its forces began a border offensive late on Thursday in response to Pakistani strikes. The uneasy neighbours have clashed at the border intermittently for months.Pakistan’s information minister said on Saturday that 37 locations across Afghanistan had been hit by air strikes since its operation began.- ‘Effective response’ -“Pakistan’s immediate and effective response to aggression continues,” Mosharraf Zaidi, a spokesman for Pakistan’s prime minister, posted on X late on Friday.The United States “expressed support for Pakistan’s right to defend itself against Taliban attacks”, Allison Hooker, the under secretary of state for political affairs, wrote on X after talks with her Pakistani counterpart.The European Union called for “immediate de-escalation and a halt of hostilities”, adding in a statement by policy chief Kaja Kallas that “Afghan territory must not be used to threaten or attack other countries”.Saudi Arabia and Qatar engaged in efforts to halt the fighting, while China said it was “working with” both countries and called for calm.Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Friday Afghan forces had killed 55 Pakistani soldiers and captured several others. He put the death toll among Afghan troops at 13.Pakistan’s Zaidi said 297 Afghan Taliban and militants had been killed. Islamabad said earlier 12 of its soldiers had been killed.The Afghan government’s deputy spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said Pakistani fire overnight and early on Saturday had killed 11 residents in the border pronice of Kunar, with three more killed at a refugee camp in Kandahar.Fitrat said earlier at least 19 civilians had been killed in eastern Khost and Paktika provinces.Casualty claims from both sides are difficult to verify independently.- Militants -This week’s escalation marked the first time that Pakistan has focused its air strikes on Afghan government facilities, analysts noted, a stark change from previous operations that it said targeted militants.Relations between the neighbours have plunged in recent months, with land border crossings largely shut since fighting in October that killed more than 70 people on both sides.Islamabad accuses Afghanistan of failing to act against militant groups that carry out attacks in Pakistan, which the Taliban government denies.Most of the attacks have been claimed by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a militant group that has stepped up assaults in Pakistan since 2021.Pakistan’s Zaidi told AFP on Saturday that there had been no reports of border clashes during the night, but that gunmen he said were associated with the Pakistani Taliban had attacked a checkpoint in the northwest. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for that attack.Several rounds of negotiations between Pakistan and Afghanistan last year followed a ceasefire brokered by Qatar and Turkey. Those efforts have failed to produce a lasting agreement.Saudi Arabia intervened this month after repeated breaches of the initial truce, mediating the release of three Pakistani soldiers captured by Afghanistan in October.

L’important déploiement militaire américain au Moyen-Orient

L’importante concentration de moyens militaires américains au Moyen-Orient, dont des navires de guerre, des avions de combat et des systèmes de ravitaillement, offre aux Etats-Unis la possibilité d’une opération prolongée contre l’Iran, qu’ils ont commencé à frapper samedi.Voici les principaux moyens militaires américains déployés dans la région, après l’annonce de frappes américaines visant selon le président Donald Trump les forces navales et les capacités de missiles de Téhéran.Le président américain a annoncé que les Etats-Unis avaient lancé des “opérations de combat majeures” contre l’Iran et appelé le peuple iranien à “s’emparer” du pouvoir. Il avait menacé à de multiples reprises Téhéran d’intervention militaire si les discussions en cours n’aboutissaient pas à un accord sur le programme nucléaire iranien.La présence d’une “telle puissance de feu (…) dans la région crée une dynamique en soi. C’est parfois un peu difficile de la freiner et de dire: +C’est tout, on ne fait rien+”, explique Susan Ziadeh, une analyste au Centre d’études stratégiques et internationales (CSIS).Washington a déployé actuellement au Moyen-Orient navires et avions de guerre par dizaines. Et dispose aussi de dizaines de milliers de soldats dans des bases militaires à travers la région, certaines potentiellement vulnérables en cas de contre-attaque iranienne.- Forces navales -L’armée américaine compte actuellement une douzaine de navires de guerre au Moyen-Orient: un porte-avions, le Abraham Lincoln, arrivé fin janvier, neuf destroyers et trois frégates légères, selon un responsable américain.Le plus grand porte-avions au monde, le Gerald Ford, croise en Méditerranée, après que Donald Trump a ordonné son déploiement dans la région mi-février. Il est accompagné par trois destroyers. Le porte-avions a embarqué des vivres, du carburant et des munitions dans la baie de Souda, sur l’île grecque de Crète, au début de la semaine, puis a quitté le port jeudi. Des images satellitaires l’ont montré le lendemain à plusieurs centaines de milles à l’ouest du port israélien de Haïfa.Il est rare que deux porte-avions américains – qui transportent des dizaines d’avions de combat et opèrent avec des milliers de marins à bord – soient dépêchés en même temps au Moyen-Orient. Mais cela avait déjà été le cas en juin dernier, quand Donald Trump avait décidé de frappes aériennes contre trois sites nucléaires iraniens pendant la guerre de 12 jours déclenchée par Israël.- Forces aériennes -Les Etats-Unis ont également mobilisé une flotte aérienne d’envergure au Moyen-Orient, selon des comptes X spécialisés et le site de suivi de vol Flightradar24.Elle comprend des avions de combat furtifs F-22 Raptor, des avions furtifs F-35 Lightning, des avions de combat F-15 et F-16, et des avions ravitailleurs KC-135 pour assister leurs opérations.- Défense aérienne -Les États-Unis auraient également renforcé leurs systèmes de défense aérienne terrestres au Moyen-Orient, tandis que les nombreux destroyers lance-missiles présents dans la région assurent des capacités de défense aérienne en mer.- Forces américaines sur des bases -Bien que les forces terrestres ne devraient pas prendre part à des actions offensives contre l’Iran, les États-Unis disposent de plusieurs dizaines de milliers de militaires stationnés sur des bases au Moyen-Orient, potentiellement vulnérables à une contre-attaque. Ainsi, un centre du quartier général de la cinquième flotte américaine à Bahreïn a été touché samedi par une “attaque de missile”, ont annoncé les autorités du pays.Téhéran avait lancé des missiles contre une base américaine au Qatar après que Washington avait frappé trois sites nucléaires iraniens en juin 2025, mais ils ont été abattus par les défenses aériennes.

Iran’s Khamenei: ruthless revolutionary at apex of Islamic republic

Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei, a pillar of its theocratic system since the Islamic revolution, has seen off a succession of crises throughout his rule with a mixture of repression and strategic manoeuvring but now could be facing his biggest challenge.The United States and Israel launched strikes against targets in Iranian cities on Saturday, sparking a swift response from the Islamic republic whose Guards announced the launch of a wave of missile and drone attacks at Israel.While the scope of the attack on Iran remains to be seen, it could range from the limited to targeting the very apex of the leadership.Khamenei, now 86, has dominated Iran for the last three-and-a-half decades since taking on the post for life in 1989 as leader of the Islamic revolution following the death of revolutionary founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.He has remained in power after overcoming 1999 student demonstrations, 2009 mass protests sparked by disputed presidential elections, and 2019 demonstrations that were brutally suppressed.He also survived the 2022-2023 “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement sparked by the death in custody of Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested for allegedly violating the strict dress code for women.Khamenei was forced to go into hiding during the 12-day war against Israel in June, which exposed deep Israeli intelligence penetration of the Islamic republic that led to the killing of key security officials in air strikes.But he survived that war and, after nationwide protests again shook the Islamic republic earlier this year, he emerged defiant as ever.- Tight security -Khamenei lives under the tightest security, and his relatively infrequent public appearances are never announced in advance or broadcast live.As supreme leader he never sets foot outside the country, a precedent set by Khomeini following his triumphant return to Tehran from France in 1979.Khamenei’s last known foreign trip was an official visit to North Korea in 1989 as president, where he met Kim Il Sung.There has long been speculation about his health given his age, but there was nothing in his most recent appearance to fuel any new rumours.Khamenei’s right arm is always inert. It was partially paralysed following an assassination attempt in 1981 authorities have always blamed on the People’s Mujahedin of Iran (MEK) group, one-time allies of the revolution now outlawed in the country. – ‘I am opposed’ -Repeatedly arrested under the shah for his anti-imperial activism, Khamenei shortly after the Islamic revolution became Friday prayer leader of Tehran and also served on the frontline during the Iran-Iraq war.He was elected president in 1981 following the assassination of Mohammad Ali Rajai, another attack blamed on the MEK. During the 1980s, Khomeini’s most likely successor was seen as the senior cleric Ayatollah Hossein Montazeri but the revolutionary leader changed his mind shortly before his death after Montazeri objected to the mass executions of MEK members and other dissidents.When Khomeini died and the Islamic republic’s top clerical body the Assembly of Experts met, it was Khamenei who they chose as leader.Khamenei famously initially rejected the nomination, putting his head in his hands in a show of despair and declaring, “I am opposed”. But the clerics stood in unison to seal his nomination and his grip on power has not slackened since.Khamenei has now worked with six elected presidents, a far less powerful position than supreme leader, including more moderate figures like Mohammad Khatami who were allowed to make stabs at cautious reform and rapprochement with the West.But in the end, Khamenei has always come down on the side of hardliners.He is believed to have six children although only one, Mojtaba, has public prominence. He was placed under sanctions by the United States in 2019 and is one of the most powerful backstage figures in Iran.A family dispute has also caught attention: his sister Badri fell out with her family in the 1980s and fled to Iraq in the war to join her husband, a dissident cleric. Some of their children, including a nephew who is now in France, have become vehement critics.

La justice n’est pas du cinéma: l’enquête sur un gilet jaune éborgné relancée

8 décembre 2018, chaos sur les Champs-Elysées. La journée qui a inspiré “Dossier 137”, primé aux César, est aussi celle où Alexandre, gilet jaune, a perdu un œil. Mais contrairement au film, l’espoir de voir l’enquête aboutir vient d’être relancé.L’information judiciaire sur la blessure d’Alexandre Frey, l’une des 23 personnes éborgnées par les forces de …

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L’Afghanistan affirme avoir capturé un pilote de l’armée pakistanaise, Islamabad dément

Les autorités afghanes ont affirmé samedi avoir capturé le pilote d’un avion militaire pakistanais abattu près de Jalalabad (est), ce qu’a démenti le Pakistan, en plein conflit entre les deux pays.Les Etats-Unis ont exprimé leur soutien à Islamabad, qui a déclaré vendredi une “guerre ouverte” aux autorités talibanes. Le Pakistan accuse les autorités afghanes d’abriter des militants armés qui lancent des attaques sur son territoire, ce que Kaboul dément.”Un avion de chasse pakistanais a été abattu dans le sixième district de Jalalabad (dans l’est de la ville, ndlr) et son pilote a été capturé”, a annoncé un porte-parole de la police afghane, Tayeb Hammad.Wahidullah Mohammadi, porte-parole de l’armée dans l’Est, a confirmé qu’un appareil pakistanais avait été neutralisé par les forces afghanes et que “le pilote (avait) été capturé”. Des habitants ont dit à l’AFP avoir vu l’aviateur en parachute avant d’être appréhendé.Un peu plus tôt, un journaliste de l’AFP a entendu le survol d’un avion à réaction, puis deux puissantes explosions provenant de la zone de l’aéroport de Jalalabad, la capitale de la province de Nangarhar située sur la route entre Kaboul et la frontière pakistanaise.Mais Islamabad a nié la chute de l’appareil et la capture du pilote. “C’est une fausse affirmation. Totalement fausse”, a réagi le porte-parole du ministère pakistanais des Affaires étrangères, Tahir Hussain Andrabi, auprès de l’AFP.Vendredi, le Pakistan a bombardé la capitale afghane, Kaboul, mais aussi la ville de Kandahar (sud), où réside le chef suprême des talibans afghans Hibatullah Akhundzada.- Soutien américain au Pakistan -La veille, une offensive afghane avait été lancée au niveau de leur frontière commune, en réponse, selon les autorités talibanes, à des frappes pakistanaises antérieures.L’Union européenne a appelé samedi à une “désescalade immédiate” entre les deux voisins.”Nous appelons tous les acteurs à une désescalade immédiate et à la cessation des hostilités (…) y compris les attaques transfrontalières et les frappes signalées au cours des dernières 24 heures, qui pourraient avoir de graves conséquences pour la région”, a déclaré la cheffe de la diplomatie de l’UE, Kaja Kallas, dans un communiqué. “L’UE réitère que le territoire afghan ne doit pas être utilisé pour menacer ou attaquer d’autres pays et appelle les autorités de facto afghanes à prendre des mesures efficaces contre tous les groupes terroristes opérant en Afghanistan ou à partir de l’Afghanistan”.Les Etats-Unis ont eux aussi “exprimé (leur) soutien au droit du Pakistan à se défendre contre les attaques des talibans”, dans une publication sur X de la numéro trois du département d’Etat, Allison Hooker.Les hostilités ont suscité les préoccupations de la Chine, du Royaume-Uni, de l’ONU mais aussi du Comité international de la Croix-Rouge.Islamabad se défendra “en toutes circonstances”, a réaffirmé samedi matin le ministre pakistanais de l’Information, Attaullah Tarar, sur X. Selon lui, 37 sites au total ont été la cible d’attaques aériennes en Afghanistan depuis le début des opérations militaires pakistanaises.”La réponse immédiate et efficace du Pakistan à l’agression se poursuit”, a dit vendredi soir sur X Mosharraf Zaidi, porte-parole du Premier ministre pakistanais Shehbaz Sharif.D’après le porte-parole du gouvernement taliban, Zabihullah Mujahid, les forces afghanes ont tué 55 soldats pakistanais et en ont capturé plusieurs autres. Et 13 membres des forces afghanes ont été tués, de même source.Côté pakistanais, Mosharraf Zaidi a indiqué que 297 Afghans avaient été tués. Et 12 soldats pakistanais ont perdu la vie, selon Islamabad.Kaboul a dit vendredi vouloir “le dialogue” pour résoudre le conflit.Longtemps proches, les deux pays s’affrontent sporadiquement depuis que les dirigeants talibans ont repris le contrôle de Kaboul en août 2021.

Trump says US aims to destroy Iran’s military, topple government

US President Donald Trump announced a major attack against Iran on Saturday, vowing to “annihilate” the country’s navy and missile sites, and urging Iranians to overthrow their government.In a video address after the United States and Israel started bombing Iran, Trump made clear the goal was destruction of the Islamic republic’s military and toppling of the authorities in power since the 1979 revolution.”We are going to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground. It will be totally — again — obliterated. We’re going to annihilate their navy,” Trump said in the address from his Florida home posted to his Truth Social platform.He urged opponents of the Iranian authorities to rise up, saying “the hour of your freedom is at hand.””When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take,” Trump said. This “will be probably your only chance for generations.”But in a section of the short speech that was aimed at the US public, Trump acknowledged that “the lives of courageous American heroes may be lost” in what the Pentagon dubbed “Operation Epic Fury.””We may have casualties,” Trump warned.Any loss of life on the US side would be politically hazardous for Trump himself, especially after his refusal to seek approval for war against Iran from Congress — and his own lengthy record of opposing foreign interventions.A one-day raid to oust the former strongman leader of Venezuela in January was accomplished without US fatalities. Surgical air strikes on Iran’s main nuclear sites last June also went off without US losses. – Bombs ‘dropping everywhere’ -“Operation Epic Fury” is on an entirely different scale militarily and politically.An attack was widely expected after Trump ordered the biggest military deployment to the Middle East in years. But critical lawmakers have for days been asking why Trump has not addressed the US public or Congress to explain the need for war.Trump’s video appeared without warning on his Truth Social site at 2:30 am in Florida, where he was spending the weekend at his luxury golf club.Trump, wearing a white baseball cap marked “USA” and no tie with his white shirt and dark jacket, stood at a podium between two flags against a black background.He sought to justify the assault on Iran saying: “Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime.””They 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,” he said.He urged Iranian forces to surrender, including the elite Revolutionary Guards that is tasked with safeguarding the cleric-run government.”To the members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, the armed forces, and all of the police, I say tonight that you must lay down your weapons and have complete immunity or in the alternative, face certain death.”But Trump warned ordinary Iranians that the US bombing would be large-scale.”Stay sheltered. Don’t leave your home. It’s very dangerous outside. Bombs will be dropping everywhere.”Trump on Friday insisted that he had not decided whether to attack, and his envoys on Thursday held talks with Iran’s top diplomat toward a deal on concerns led by Tehran’s nuclear program.The top diplomat of Oman, which mediated talks Thursday in Geneva between the United States and Iran, had been optimistic for a compromise. He met Friday with US Vice President JD Vance and told CBS News that Iran had agreed to zero stockpiling of enriched uranium that could build an atomic bomb, a goal denied by Tehran.