US President, Donald Trump has defended a combined military operation against Iran conducted in coordination with Israel.
In a statement on Saturday, Israeli defence minister Israel Katz said the strike was part of a move to “remove threats against the State of Israel”.
In a video posted on X on Saturday morning, Trump said the operation is aimed at preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.
“A short time ago, the United States military began major combat operations in Iran,” he said.
“Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime, a vicious group of very hard, terrible people.”
He added that Iran’s actions pose a direct danger to the United States, its deployed forces, overseas bases and allied nations.
“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,” he said.
Trump referenced historical clashes, including the 1979 takeover of the US embassy in Tehran, the 1983 Marine barracks bombing in Beirut, and the 2000 attack on the USS Cole.
“Iranian forces killed and maimed hundreds of American service members in Iraq,” he said.
“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.”
The US leader also accused Iran of backing militant groups across the Middle East, including Hamas.
“It was Iran’s proxy, Hamas, that launched the monstrous October 7th attacks on Israel, slaughtering more than 1,000 innocent people, including 46 Americans, while taking 12 of our citizens hostage,” he said.
He labelled Iran “the world’s number one state sponsor of terror” and repeated that Tehran would not be permitted to obtain nuclear weapons.
“It has always been the policy of the United States, in particular, my administration, that this terrorist regime can never have a nuclear weapon,” he said.
“I’ll say it again, they can never have a nuclear weapon.
