Trump says Iran strikes aim to protect Americans as Tehran signals retaliation
US President Donald Trump said the US has begun “major combat operations in Iran” to “eliminate imminent threats from the Iranian regime”, while an Iranian parliamentary security chief warned Washington it had entered a path “beyond your control”.
US President Donald Trump said the United States has joined Israel in striking Iran, claiming the operation is intended to protect Americans by removing what he described as an imminent threat.
In a video statement, Trump said the US had begun “major combat operations in Iran”, adding that the objective was to defend the United States by “eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime”.
Trump also acknowledged the risk of US losses, saying: “The lives of courageous American heroes may be lost, and we may have casualties… That often happens in war.”
Al Jazeera reported that there is no guarantee the United States can avoid blowback, warning that any US military injuries or deaths could create intense political pressure on Trump, who has previously pledged to keep the country out of what he has called “stupid” foreign wars.
On the Iranian side, Ebrahim Azizi, chairman of Iran’s parliament national security commission, wrote on X: “We warned you, but now you have started down a path that is beyond your control.”
