LIVE: US and Israel attack Iran

"My dear compatriots, decisive moments lie before us," assured Reza Pahlavi, son of the Iranian shah (king) deposed by the Islamic Revolution that installed the current regime. Pahlavi has become a central figure in the protests of recent months, postulating himself as the leader of a transition if the mullahs' government falls.

"The assistance that the President of the United States had promised to the brave people of Iran has now arrived. This is a humanitarian intervention, and its target is the Islamic Republic, its apparatus of repression, and its machinery of killing—not the country and great nation of Iran," he maintained. "However," he warned, "the final victory" depends on the Iranian people themselves. "The time to return to the streets is approaching."

He also addressed the security and law enforcement forces directly, reminding them that they were sworn to protect the nation, "not the Islamic Republic and its leaders." "Join the nation and help ensure a stable and secure transition. Otherwise, you will sink with Khamenei’s ship and his crumbling regime."

He also dedicated a few words to Trump: "The honorable people of Iran, despite the brutal repression and killings carried out by this regime, stood bravely for nearly two months. I now ask you to exercise the utmost possible caution to preserve the lives of civilians and my compatriots. The people of Iran are your natural allies and the allies of the free world, and they will not forget your assistance during the most difficult period of Iran’s contemporary history."

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A U.S. Fifth Fleet facility in Bahrain was hit in a "missile attack," local officials said Saturday, following bombings by the United States and Israel in neighboring Iran.

"The Fifth Fleet's service centre was subjected to a missile attack. We will provide you with details later," the Gulf monarchy's government said in a statement reported
by AFP. 

Iran had warned that it would attack U.S. bases in the region if attacked by the United States.

Barain is home to the U.S. Fifth Fleet, and is one of the countries that entered into relations with the State of Israel as part of the Abraham Accords, sponsored by Donald Trump.

"A short time ago, the United States military began major combat operations in Iran. Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime, a vicious group of very hard, terrible people.
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​Its menacing activities directly endanger the United States, our troops, our bases overseas and their allies throughout the world. For 47 years, the Iranian regime has chanted death to America and waged an unending campaign of bloodshed and mass murder, targeting the United States, our troops, and the innocent people in many, many countries.

Among the regime's very first acts was to back a violent takeover of the U.S. embassy in Tehran, holding dozens of American hostages for four 444 days. In 1983, Iran's proxies carried out the Marine Barracks bombing in Beirut that killed 241 American military personnel. In 2000, they knew and were probably involved with the attack on the USS Cole.

Many died. Iranian forces killed and maimed hundreds of American service members in Iraq. The regime's proxies have continued to launch countless attacks against American forces stationed in the Middle East in recent years, as well as U.S. naval and commercial vessels and international shipping lanes. It's been mass terror and we're not going to put up with it any longer.

From Lebanon to Yemen and Syria to Iraq, the regime has armed, trained and funded terrorist militias that have soaked the earth with blood and guts. And it was Iran's proxy, Hamas, that launched the monstrous Oct. 7th attacks on Israel, slaughtering more than 1,000 innocent people, including 46 Americans, while taking 12 of our citizens hostage.

It was brutal, something like the world has never seen before. Iran is the world's number one state sponsor of terror and just recently killed tens of thousands of its own citizens on the street as they protested. It has always been the policy of the United States, in particular, my administration, that this terrorist regime can never have a nuclear weapon.

I'll say it again, they can never have a nuclear weapon. That is why in Operation Midnight Hammer last June, we obliterated the regime's nuclear program at Fort Doe, Natanz and Isfahan. After that attack we warned them never to resume their malicious pursuit of nuclear weapons and we sought repeatedly to make a deal.

We tried, they wanted to do it, they didn't want to do it. Again, they wanted to do it, they didn't want to do it, they didn't know what was happening, they just wanted to practice evil. But Iran refused just as it has for decades and decades. They rejected every opportunity to renounce their nuclear ambitions and we can't take it anymore.

Instead, 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.

Just imagine how emboldened this regime would be if they ever had and actually were armed with nuclear weapons as a means to deliver their message. For these reasons, the United States military is undertaking a massive and ongoing operation to prevent this very wicked radical dictatorship from threatening America and our core national security interests.

We are going to destroy their missiles and raise their missile industry to the ground. It will be totally again obliterated. We're going to annihilate their navy.

We're going to ensure that the region's terrorist proxies can no longer destabilize the region or the world and attack our forces and no longer use their IEDs or roadside bombs, as they are sometimes called, to so gravely wound and kill thousands and thousands of people, including many Americans. And we will ensure that Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon.

It's a very simple message. They will never have nuclear weapon. This regime will soon learn that no one should challenge the strength and might of the United States Armed Forces. I built and rebuilt our military in my first administration, and there is no military on Earth even close to its power, strength, or sophistication.

My administration has taken every possible step to minimize the risk to U.S. personnel in the region. Even so, and I do not make this statement lightly, the Iranian regime seeks to kill. 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.

We pray for every service member as they selflessly risk their lives to ensure that Americans and our children will never be threatened by a nuclear armed Iran. We ask God to protect all of our heroes in harm's way, and we trust that with his help, the men and women of the armed forces will prevail. We have the greatest in the world, and they will prevail.

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. So, lay down your arms, you will be treated fairly with total immunity or you will face certain death.

Finally, to the great proud people of Iran, I say tonight that the hour of your freedom is at hand. Stay sheltered, don't leave your home. It's very dangerous outside. Bombs will be dropping everywhere. When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will be probably your only chance for generations. For many years you have asked for America's help, but you never got it.

No president was willing to do what I am willing to do tonight. Now you have a president who is giving you what you want. So, let's see how you respond. America is backing you with overwhelming strength and devastating force. Now is the time to seize control of your destiny and to unleash the prosperous and glorious future That is close within your reach. This is the moment for action. Do not let it pass.

May God bless the brave men and women of America's armed forces. May God bless the United States of America. May God bless you all. Thank you."

"An additional barrage of missiles was launched towards the State of Israel. The public is requested to continue to follow the instructions of the Home Front Command, the public is requested to stay in protected spaces until official notice," the Israeli armed forces assured in a statement picked up by AFP.

Witnesses in Israel reported explosions in Jerusalem and other coordinates of the country.

The Israel Defense Forces announced that several alarms were triggered across the country:

The official Iranian agency, Irna, assured that President Masud Pezeshkian is "safe and sound."

Immediately, the Iranian civil aviation department announced the closure of the country's airspace until further notice.

At the same time, communications are severely affected: phone calls stopped working and internet connection is very unstable, according to an AFP journalist.