Washington woke up Friday to news that the United States had entered a major war in the Middle East, the largest since the 2003 Iraq War.
At 2:30 a.m., U.S. President Donald Trump announced in a video posted on his Truth Social account that the United States had begun “major combat operations” in Iran. He accused the Iranian regime of carrying out “an unending campaign of bloodshed and mass killing targeting the United States.”
Trump was clear in his message: “Iran can never possess a nuclear weapon.”
Addressing Americans first, the Iranian people second, and the world third, Trump said Iran had rejected every opportunity to abandon its nuclear ambitions. He added that Tehran continued developing long-range missiles capable of threatening U.S. allies in Europe, American forces abroad, and “could soon reach U.S. soil.”
Trump said the United States would destroy Iran’s missile industry and neutralize its naval capabilities.
He reminded viewers that the Iranian regime had chanted “Death to America” for 47 years and had targeted hundreds of Americans through kidnappings and killings.
Trump did not rule out potential American casualties in the conflict, a move likely intended to preempt domestic backlash, with the understanding that the war could spark political controversy affecting the U.S. midterm elections in November.
He concluded his address by speaking directly to the Iranian people, urging them to seize their freedom and take control of their government.
The U.S. Department of Defense named the operation “Epic Fury.”
The operation comes amid a broad escalation of military confrontation in the Middle East, negatively affecting prospects for a diplomatic solution to the yearslong dispute between Iran and the West over Tehran’s nuclear program.
The attack follows a 12-day air war between Israel and Iran in June, amid repeated warnings from Washington and Tel Aviv that a new strike could occur if Tehran continued developing its nuclear and missile programs.
Washington and Tel Aviv are demanding that Iran fully dismantle its nuclear infrastructure and are pressuring Tehran to abandon its ballistic missiles.
Iran, for its part, says it is open to discussing limits on its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief, but it rejects linking the nuclear file to its missile program.
The article is a translation of the original Arabic.
Rami Al Amine
A Lebanese writer and journalist living in the United States. He holds a master’s degree in Islamic-Christian Relations from the Faculty of Religious Sciences at Saint Joseph University in Beirut. He is the author of the poetry collection “I Am a Great Poet” (Dar Al-Nahda Al-Arabiya, 2007); the political pamphlet “Ya Ali, We Are No Longer the People of the South” (Lebanese Plans, 2008); a book on social media titled “The Facebookers” (Dar Al-Jadeed, 2012); and “The Pakistanis: A Statue’s Biography” (Dar Al-Nahda Al-Arabiya, 2024).
