Trump chooses war: 'Tehran will never have the atom bomb'
Appeal to the Iranian people: 'Take back the government'. Democrats in Congress criticise US and Israeli military action
"US military forces have launched major combat operations in Iran. Our goal is to defend Americans by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime, a vicious group of very tough and terrible people." In an eight-minute video released via social media, Donald Trump thus announced to Americans and the world the start of the war against the Islamic Republic.
From his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, wearing a white baseball cap with the US logo, the US president warned that the war will be difficult and that even though 'all measures have been taken to reduce the risks', there could be 'casualties among the brave American soldiers': 'It happens often in war. But,' he remarked, 'we are not doing it for now. We are doing it for the future'.
Trump then urged the Iranian people to rebel against the ayatollahs' regime: 'Your freedom is at hand, do not leave your homes because bombs will fall everywhere. But when we are done, take over the government of your country. You now have an American president who supports you like no one has in the past, it may be your only chance for generations,' he said in the speech also broadcast in Iran, on every available platform, including satellite. "Surrender and we will not do anything to you, or else it will be certain death for you," he instead intimated to members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, the armed forces and the entire police force.
After bringing two aircraft carriers to the area and amassing, between the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf, hundreds of fighter planes and a military capability not seen since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the White House had seemed doubtful about intervention, advised against it by many Pentagon experts. But talks on Tehran's nuclear programme were not progressing and Israel was pressing for forceful action. Trump was sending ambiguous messages: 'I haven't made up my mind yet, I'm not happy with the talks, I would prefer an agreement, but sometimes force is needed'.
The decision to go to war with Operation Epic Fury - we now know - had already been taken by the president, together with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth. In agreement with Israel, after hearing the intelligence chiefs and generals in charge of forces in the Middle East. To the US Congress, the president has instead reserved a simple communication and this has triggered criticism from the democrats, and some republicans, who have called for a parliamentary vote to limit the powers of the White House, in "a conflict with a very uncertain outcome", and considerably more risky than Operation Midnight Hammer last June, with the US and Israeli raids on Iranian nuclear facilities.
