Trump announces US military campaign against Iran, says objective is to eliminate ‘imminent threats’

US President Donald Trump has announced that the United States has launched a military campaign against Iran, citing the need to eliminate what he described as imminent threats posed by the country’s ruling regime.

In a statement posted on social media on Saturday, Trump said the primary objective of the operation is to protect the American people and US allies.

He claimed the decision to begin the campaign was driven by what he called the necessity of neutralizing “inevitable threats” originating from Iran’s leadership. 

Trump described the country’s authorities as a “brutal group of individuals” whose actions, he said, directly endanger the United States, American troops, overseas bases and allied nations.

“Their threatening activities directly endanger the United States, our troops, our bases abroad and our allies around the world,” Trump wrote.

The US president accused Tehran of decades of hostile rhetoric and violence, claiming that for 47 years Iran’s leadership had promoted anti-American slogans and engaged in what he characterized as a campaign of terror.

He alleged that Iran had repeatedly targeted American service members and civilians in various countries.

“This has been mass terror, and we will not tolerate it any longer,” he stated.

Trump also said that a central goal of the military operation was the destruction of Iran’s nuclear program.

“This terrorist regime will never have a nuclear weapon. I repeat: they will never have a nuclear weapon,” he said.

In addition, the president called on the Iranian people to assume control of their country’s future following the operation.

“This may be your only chance for generations. For years you have asked America for help, and you have never received it,” Trump said, addressing the Iranian public.