Reports suggest Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has been moved to a secure location
Trump tells Iranian people: "Your hour of freedom is at hand…”
American President asks Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps to "lay down your arms… or face certain death."
The missiles are flying. The long-anticipated fears of another war in West Asia became a reality with Israel and the US carrying out multiple strikes on government buildings and security installations across Iran. From the capital Tehran, to Qom, Isfahan, Karaj, Kermanshah and Karajke cities across Iran came under attack.
It was clear from Friday evening when the US asked all unnecessary staff from its embassy in Israel to return home, that a strike was imminent.
The attacks came despite signals that another round of indirect diplomacy might still be possible after Friday’s exchanges. The foreign minister of Oman, Badr Albusaidi, who was mediating the talks between Iran and the United States, had flown to Washington to argue that progress was being made. But his efforts, it now appears, were all in vain.
That it has unfolded during Ramadan, the holiest month in the Muslim calendar, has deepened the symbolism and the shock across the region.
Reports suggest that the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has been moved to a secure location. It is clear from US President Donald Trump’s video posted on his social media platform Truth Social that the war will continue till the Iranian regime is brought down.
"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. Its menacing activities directly endanger the United States, our troops, our bases overseas and our allies throughout the world," he said.
"We are going to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground," Trump vowed.Trump told the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps to "lay down your arms… or you will face certain death."To the Iranian people he said "your hour of freedom is at hand… when we are finished taking over your government, it will be yours to take."From what Trump said this is obviously not a one-time operation, as it was in Venezuela, when Nicolás Maduro was flown out of Caracas and power was handed over to his vice president. Iran is much more complicated and the war is likely to continue till there is complete capitulation of the regime.
This is undoubtedly a turning point in West Asian history. For Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, long vocal about the need to draw Washington directly into a confrontation with Tehran, this moment may appear to vindicate years of strategic lobbying.
An Israeli defence official said the operation had been planned for months in coordination with Washington, and that the launch date was decided weeks ago. The Israeli military announced the closure of schools and workplaces. Israel closed its airspace to civilian flights, and the airports authority asked the public not to go to any of the country's airports.
How long the attacks stretch out remains to be seen. But with regime change, the complete dismantling of Iran’s nuclear programme, destroying Iran’s missile programme, all on the agenda, the entire process could take time.
The fact remains that successive governments both in the US and Israel have been looking to dismantle the Iranian regime but have not succeeded. Trump and Netanyahu now believe that the opportunity is just right, with Iran at its most vulnerable. Sanctions against Iran since 1979 have crippled its economy. In the 12-day war last year a large number of Iran’s generals were killed. The protests against the regime and rising prices have further weakened Khamenei's regime. So those who support military action believe the timing is perfect.
``The co-ordinated strike from Israel and the US is meant to decapitate the Iranian regime. The consequences will be devastating. Iran will be hollowed out much like what happened in Iraq,’’ says Talmiz Ahmad, former Indian ambassador and an expert on the region.
The question however remains, who will take over even if we assume that the regime is eliminated? There is no opposition waiting in the wings. The Shah’s son is the visible face of the opposition among expatriates in Iran and in pockets of the country.
The New York Times, quoted Rosemary Kelanic, a scholar at the think tank Defence Priorities, saying
“The overriding imperative now is for the U.S. to avoid escalation into a prolonged conflict that wastes American power rather than enhances it,” she said. What has struck many observers is how Trump, who came to power with the promise of stopping the never-ending wars that former presidents had got the US into in Afghanistan and Iraq and earlier in Vietnam, would never happen under his watch.
