If anybody thought President Trump was going to mimic his military operation last June by retargeting Iran’s major nuclear facilities and then declaring victory, they were quickly mistaken.
The ongoing U.S. air campaign against Iran is far bigger and more comprehensive than Trump’s first bite at the apple eight months earlier. Partnering with Israel, a variety of targets have been set in the initial hours: Iran’s military chain-of-command and political leadership; ballistic missile facilities; the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Navy; and Iranian government facilities like the parliament, the president’s office and the feared Ministry of Intelligence. Even Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s compound wasn’t spared.
What’s the U.S. objective in all of this? According to Trump, it’s none other than to gut Iran’s military power, weaken its government and create the circumstances in which the Iranian people can take back their country.
“Now is the time to seize control of your destiny and to unleash the prosperous and glorious future that is close within your reach,” Trump told the Iranian people an hour after the first U.S. bombs dropped. “This is the moment for action.”
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