NEW DELHI: The United States and Israel launched coordinated airstrikes on Iran on Saturday, targeting military sites across the country in what both governments described as a pre-emptive operation, drawing swift retaliatory missile strikes from Tehran against American military bases across the Gulf and setting off a diplomatic scramble among world powers.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz announced that "the State of Israel launched a pre-emptive attack against Iran to remove threats to the State of Israel." US President Donald Trump followed with a video statement saying American forces had begun "major combat operations in Iran" to eliminate what he described as imminent threats from the Iranian regime, vowing to destroy Iran's missiles and missile industry. Loud explosions were reported across Tehran, with the Israeli military stressing it was targeting military sites.
