Missiles streaked across the skies of the Middle East on Saturday morning as the United States and Israel began “Operation Epic Fury,” a joint operation targeting the Iranian regime—and one that President Donald Trump hopes will not only destroy the Iranian ballistic missile and nuclear program, but deliver regime change itself.
After months of moving American military assets into the region, the Americans and Israelis began their attack by striking regime infrastructure. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s Tehran palace was turned to rubble, killing the Supreme Leader, according to officials. Additional reports said that the Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, had been targeted. Iranian defense minister Aziz Nasirzadeh and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Mohammad Pakpour are believed to have been killed in Israeli attacks.
“The hour of your freedom is at hand,” President Trump said, addressing the Iranian people. “It will be yours to take. This will be, probably, your only chance for generations.”
John Bolton, a former ambassador to the United Nations and national security adviser to President Trump in his first term, has long advocated for military strikes against the Iranian regime and implored the president to conduct regime change during his tenure. A frequent critic of his former boss, Bolton said on X that the mission is “completely justifiable and necessary” and “the most consequential decision of Donald Trump’s presidency.”
