President Donald Trump confirmed Saturday that the U.S. is carrying out “major combat operations in Iran.”
In video remarks posted to Truth Social, Trump said the objective is to defend Americans by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime, describing it as “a vicious group of very hard, terrible people.”
“It’s been mass terror and we are not going to put up with it any longer,” Trump said.
He added that “it has always been the policy of the United States, in particular my administration, that this terrorist regime can never have a nuclear weapon. I’ll say it again, they can never have a nuclear weapon.”
American embassies in Qatar, Manama, Jordan and Abu Dhabi, along with the US consulate in Dubai, have issued shelter-in-place orders for all personnel following the U.S.-Israel joint attack on Iran Saturday morning.
Officials recommended all Americans also shelter-in-place “until further notice.”
Qatar, which has previously been attacked by Iran, is home to Al Udeid Air Base, forward headquarters for U.S. Central Command.
Thousands of American service members are stationed at the base.
While military strikes have been reported nationwide, the initial joint attack was reportedly focused in an area near the offices of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The Associated Press reported the first apparent strike hit near Khamenei’s compound and main offices in Tehran.