The United States launched a new wave of military strikes on Iran on Saturday, in a joint US-Israeli operation against Tehran, the New York Times reported. Explosions were also reported in several Iranian cities as the strikes unfolded, according to the New York Times, which cited Iran’s semiofficial Fars News Agency.
US officials told the New York Times that dozens of strikes are being carried out by attack aircraft flying from US bases around the Middle East and from one or more aircraft carriers. The New York Times reported that US officials expect the current attack to be far more extensive than the American strikes last June against Iranian nuclear facilities.
The escalation comes after what the New York Times described as a massive US military buildup in the region, including two aircraft carriers, a number of naval destroyers, and more than 50 fighter planes. The New York Times framed the deployments as laying the groundwork for sustained operations and signaling readiness to widen the campaign if diplomacy failed.
In the political track, the New York Times reported that US President Donald Trump grew increasingly frustrated with negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program, despite having campaigned against interventionism and casting himself as a peacemaker. The New York Times said Trump’s envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, met with Iranian officials in Geneva on Thursday, but the president said on Friday he was “not happy” with the talks, adding that he would “love not to use force,” while acknowledging that “sometimes you have to.”
The New York Times placed the latest strikes in the context of last year’s June attacks, when US forces bombed three Iranian nuclear facilities during Israel’s 12-day war with Tehran, directly involving the United States in combat operations. Those June strikes came after Trump lost patience with diplomacy and shifted his position under Israeli pressure, the New York Times reported, and the current operation is expected by US officials to go beyond that earlier action in scale.
On Capitol Hill, the New York Times reported that Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky) said lawmakers intended to hold votes next week to prohibit the president from authorizing strikes without consulting Congress, though the issue may now be seen by many as overtaken by events given US military action already underway.
This is a developing story.