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Starting before his first term, Donald Trump has issued a litany of threats against Washington’s arch-enemy Iran, while also urging it to talks.
He warned in late January that “time is running out”, urging Tehran to “make a deal”.
After indirect talks resumed between the two nations, he threatened Iran on February 12 with “very traumatic” consequences, giving them “10, 15 days, pretty much maximum” to reach an agreement.
Israel’s leader Benjamin Netanyahu has for decades cast Iran’s nuclear ambitions, missile arsenal and support for militant groups as an existential danger.
He has repeatedly urged Iranians to overthrow their leaders and restore the ties the two countries had before the Islamic Revolution of 1979.


Here are key events in recent months.
Timeline of escalation

June 2025: Israel and Iran engaged in direct aerial conflict for 12 days. During this time, the US conducted its first major strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, marking a shift towards direct American involvement.


December 2025: Massive anti-government protests broke out across Iran. The Trump administration threatened military intervention in response to the regime’s violent crackdown on protesters in January, which saw thousands of people killed.


February 18–26: Indirect nuclear talks took place in Geneva, mediated by Oman. While some technical progress was reported, the US expressed extreme frustration with the pace. On Tuesday, during his State of the Union address, President Trump labelled Iran an “imminent threat”.



Friday: The USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier arrived in the eastern Mediterranean, joining a massive fleet of over 50 fighter jets and naval destroyers staged at regional bases.

Saturday’s strikes

8.00 – 9.30am (local time): Israel announced a “pre-emptive strike” to neutralise imminent threats. Reports of massive explosions surfaced in Tehran, Isfahan, Qom, Karaj and Kermanshah.


10.00am: President Trump released a video statement confirming the US had begun “major combat operations” in Iran. He stated the goal is to dismantle Iran’s nuclear and missile capabilities and called on the Iranian people to “take over your government”.



11.48am: Strikes hit the Jomhouri area and University Street in Tehran. Critically, missiles targeted the district housing the office of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Reports indicate he was moved to a secure location before the strikes.


12.30pm: Iran launched a “crushing response”, firing ballistic missiles towards northern Israel and targeting US bases in the Persian Gulf. The UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait reported intercepting incoming Iranian projectiles.

Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse


Missiles streak across Gulf skies as Iran responds to US-Israel attack

US-Israeli strike on Iran signals new phase of global escalation

US-Israel attack on Iran: how it unfolded

What military assets does the US have in the Middle East?

War and conflict

Smoke rises in central Tehran after Israel launched what it called a pre-emptive strike on Saturday. Photo: EPA

US President Donald Trump greets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu upon his at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida in December. Photo: via TNS

Vehicles burn in Tehran in this screengrab obtained from social media footage on Saturday. Reuters was not able to verify exactly when the video was filmed. Photo via Reuters

The US Navy aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford left the Greek island of Crete on Thursday. Photo: via TNS

The USS Gerald Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, in Crete on Tuesday. Photo: AFP

People took shelter in Tel Aviv on Saturday as the US and Israel attacked Iran and it retaliated. Photo: AFP

US-Iran-Israel crisis: who are the main players?

A handful of key players, including US President Donald Trump and Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, will decide what happens next after the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Saturday. Photos: via AFP

This image taken from Iranian state television broadcast on Saturday shows what it says is the site of US and Israeli strikes that hit a school in the southern Iranian province of Hormozgan. Photo: via AFP

A puppet depicting Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei hangs from a noose, as demonstrators gather in support of military action against the Iranian regime outside Iran’s embassy in London on Saturday. Photo: Reuters

A demonstrator holds a placard depicting Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran’s last shah, outside the Iranian embassy in London on Saturday. Photo: Reuters

Trump tells Iranians to overthrow government as US-Israeli strikes start ‘major’ operation

Smoke rises in the Iranian capital Tehran following Israeli and US strikes on Saturday. Photo: WANA via Reuters

Tehran was one of more than 10 Iranian cities hit on Saturday. Photo: AP

Smoke rises in Manama, Bahrain, on Saturday after reported Iranian missile attacks. Photo: Reuters

Israelis take shelter in an underground car park after missiles were launched towards Israel from Iran on Saturday. Photo: Reuters

A smoke plume rises above the Tehran skyline on Saturday after the US and Israel launched strikes. Photo: AP

The US and Israel struck targets across Iran on Saturday, including on the capital Tehran. Photo: Tasnim News Agency/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

Trump puts fate of world’s top conflicts in hands of 2 men

Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff meet with Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi in Geneva. Photo: Oman News Agency via Reuters

Jared Kushner speaks at a ‘Board of Peace’ meeting in Washington earlier this month. Photo: AP

Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff meet with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin in Moscow in January. Photo: Sputnik via Reuters

Pakistan-Taliban showdown risks becoming a protracted war of attrition

A Taliban fighter holds his weapon beside a Humvee after exchanges of fire between Pakistani and Afghan forces in Momand Dara district of Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, on Saturday. Photo: Reuters

A Taliban security member keeps watch from atop an armoured Humvee near the Torkham border crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan in Nangarhar province on Saturday. Photo: AFP

People gather around the coffin of a Pakistani soldier killed in cross-border clashes with Afghan forces during funeral prayers in Lakki Marwat district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Saturday. Photo: AP

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World

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United States & Canada

‘The hour of your freedom is at hand,’ US president Donald Trump told Iranians on Saturday, after months of mounting tension


‘The hour of your freedom is at hand,’ US president Donald Trump told Iranians on Saturday, after months of mounting tension.


US-Israel attack on Iran: how it unfolded

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}‘The hour of your freedom is at hand,’ US president Donald Trump told Iranians on Saturday, after months of mounting tension

‘The hour of your freedom is at hand,’ US president Donald Trump told Iranians on Saturday, after months of mounting tension