U.S. and Israel Strike Iran as Talks Falter; Tehran Retaliates Across the Region

The United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran on Saturday, the second time in eight months that the Trump administration has used military force against Iran, NBC News reported. Al Jazeera called it the most serious escalation since the June 2025 war and noted it came despite ongoing indirect nuclear talks. U.S. Central Command called the operation “Epic Fury,” PBS reported, and Al Jazeera said the Defense Department named its mission Operation Epic Fury.

In a statement published by CBS, Trump said the U.S. military had “begun major combat operations in Iran.” He said the aim was to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime. “We are going to raze their missile industry to the ground,” he said, and “annihilate their navy,” CBS and Al Jazeera reported. He offered members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, armed forces and police “total immunity” if they lay down their weapons, saying they would otherwise “face certain death,” according to CBS. Al Jazeera described the offer as amnesty and reported the same warning.

PBS and Al Jazeera reported strikes in Tehran, Isfahan and Tabriz, among other places. PBS said strikes began shortly before 10 a.m. in Tehran, and Al Jazeera cited Iran’s Fars news agency as reporting explosions at about 9:27 a.m. Khamenei, the supreme leader, had not been seen publicly and his location was not known, PBS reported, and Al Jazeera likewise said it was not immediately clear where he was. Iran’s foreign minister said President Masoud Pezeshkian was alive as far as he knew, PBS reported, and Al Jazeera said Iranian state media reported he was unharmed.

Iran retaliated. The Revolutionary Guard said it targeted the U.S. Fifth Fleet in Bahrain and U.S. bases in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, as well as military targets in Israel, PBS reported. Bahrain confirmed it was hit by a missile attack, France 24 reported. Qatar said an Iranian missile attack targeted its territory, and the UAE said it intercepted missiles, with debris killing a civilian in Abu Dhabi, according to France 24; PBS also reported one death in the UAE from shrapnel. Kuwait said it intercepted missiles aimed at a base, France 24 reported, and Al Jazeera reported Iranian fire at U.S.-linked sites in Kuwait as well.

Iran’s Red Crescent said 201 people had been killed and 747 injured across 24 provinces, PBS reported, and Al Jazeera cited a toll of at least 201. Details of damage remained limited and several accounts were unconfirmed.

Diplomacy had been under way. A third round of indirect talks ended in Geneva on Thursday with Oman’s foreign minister citing significant progress, Defense News and Foreign Policy reported. Oman’s foreign minister, Badr al-Busaidi, urged Washington “not to get sucked in further,” PBS and Al Jazeera reported; PBS added that he wrote, “This is not your war.” Iran says its nuclear program is purely civilian and that it will never build a weapon, Al Jazeera and CBS have reported.