US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that the United States had begun “major combat operations” in Iran, vowing to eliminate what he described as imminent threats from the Iranian regime.
“Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime,” Trump said in a video message shared on social media.
Trump said the United States would ensure that Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon and accused Tehran of attempting to rebuild its nuclear program and develop long-range missiles that threaten the United States and its allies.
“We will ensure that Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon,” he said. “We’re going to annihilate their navy. We are going to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground.”
Trump also addressed Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps directly, urging its members to lay down their arms.
“You should lay down your arms. You will be treated fairly with total immunity, or you will face certain death,” he said.
