Over the past 36 hours, the United States and its partners have launched Operation epic fury, one of the largest, most complex, most overwhelming military offenses the world has ever seen. Nobody has seen anything like it.
We have hit hundreds of targets in Iran, including Revolutionary Guard facilities, Iranian air defense systems. Just now was announced that we knocked out nine ships plus their naval building, all in a matter of literally minutes.
Iran's formerly Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei is dead. This wretched and vile man had the blood of hundreds and even 1000s of Americans on his hands and was responsible for the slaughter of countless 1000s of innocent people all across many countries.
Last night, all over Iran, the voices of the Iranian people could be heard cheering and celebrating in the streets when his death was announced. The entire military command is gone as well, and many of them want to surrender into saving their lives. They want immunity. They're calling by the 1000s.
Combat operations continue at this time in full force, and they will continue until all of our objectives are achieved. We have very strong objectives. They could have done something two weeks ago, but they just couldn't get there.
Earlier today, CENTCOM shared the news that three US military service members have been killed in action as one nation, we grieve for the true American patriots who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation, even as we continue the righteous mission for which they gave their lives, we pray for the full recovery of the wounded and send our immense love and eternal gratitude to the families of the fallen. And sadly, there will likely be more before it ends. That's the way it is. Likely be more but we'll do everything possible. Or that won't be the case, but America will avenge their deaths and deliver the most punishing blow to the terrorists who have waged war against, basically, civilization.
They have waged war against civilization itself, our resolve and likewise, that of Israel has never been stronger. America is now again the richest, most powerful nation in the world by far. But the only reason we enjoy the quality of life that we do and the freedom and security is we have done things that others are unable to do, but it's because of warriors who are willing to lay down their lives to do battle with our enemies, and they do battle better than anybody an Iranian regime armed with long range missiles and nuclear weapons would be a dire threat to every American.
We cannot allow a nation that raises terrorist armies to possess such weapons. Would allow them to extort the world to their evil will not going to let it happen, not happening to us, and we're not going to let it happen to others.
The United States has the strongest military the world has ever seen. I rebuilt our military in my first term. There's never been a military like we possess, and frankly, there's nobody even close. But we are now using that military for good. We want to have it for good purpose. We're undertaking this massive operation not merely to ensure security for our own time and place, but for our children and their children, just as our ancestors have done for us, many, many years ago, this is the duty and the burden of a free people.
These actions are right and they are necessary to ensure that Americans will never have to face a radical, bloodthirsty terrorist regime armed with nuclear weapons and lots of threats. For almost 50 years, these wicked extremists have been attacking the United States while chanting the slogan, Death to America, or death to Israel, or both. They are the world's number one state sponsor of terror. We are the world's greatest and most powerful nation, so we can do something about what they do. These intolerable threats will not continue any longer.
I once again urge the Revolutionary Guard, the Iranian military police, to lay down your arms and receive full immunity or face certain death. It will be certain. Death won't be pretty. I call upon all Iranian patriots who yearn for freedom to seize this moment, to be brave, be bold, be heroic, and take back your country. America is with you. I made a promise to you, and I fulfilled that promise. The rest will be up to you, and we'll be there to help. Thank you. God bless you to our incredible warriors, and God bless the United States of America.
Tehran’s unveiling of a towering statue depicting the Roman Emperor Valerian kneeling before pre-Islamic Persian King Shapur I has renewed criticism of the Islamic Republic’s appeal to nationalist sentiment following the June war with Israel.
For over forty years, the theocracy purged ancient Persian history from schoolbooks, replacing it with post-Islamic narratives. But after the 12-day conflict with Israel, officials have turned to the distant pre-Islamic past to rally a divided society.
From murals of ancient kings and soldiers to patriotic songs added to Shi’ite mourning ceremonies performed before Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Tehran now embraces imagery once deemed heretical by its own revolutionary ethos.
'Kneel before Iran' campaign
Tehran’s Revolution (Enghelab) Square was the scene of an unusual spectacle on Friday as officials unveiled a massive bronze statue depicting Roman Emperor Valerian kneeling in submission before Sassanid King Shapur I, commemorating Iran’s victory at the Battle of Edessa (260 AD).
The event was held under the slogan “Kneel before Iran,” part of what authorities describe as a campaign to project “national unity and historical pride” following the June war with Israel.
Tehran Mayor Alireza Zakani, a staunch ultraconservative, said on X: “Enmity with Great Iran can only end in kneeling before this historic nation.”
Municipal official Davood Goodarzi said the installation would be accompanied by visual displays depicting “other victories of Iranians over foreign aggressors,” including the defeat of British forces by local commander Rais-Ali Delvari, Mirza Kuchak Khan’s resistance against Russian troops, and Surena’s triumph over Rome at the Battle of Carrhae in 53 BCE.
The goal, Goodarzi said, is “strengthening concepts such as national dignity, social unity, and Iranian identity.”
The statue, he said, would remain temporarily at Revolution Square before being moved to a city gateway “where it will stand as the first emblem of Iran before diplomats and foreign visitors.”
Unveiled women were allowed to attend the unveiling ceremony—an uncommon scene at events organized by Tehran’s ultra-hardline municipality.
The turn to the pre-Islamic past
The sharp reversal also recalls remarks once made by Khamenei. In a 2011 speech, he asserted that “all the great military victories of this nation came after Islam,” dismissing pre-Islamic accounts as “things that are not documented.”
In 1987, he had said that prophets triumphed over kings such as Cyrus and that “nothing remains of these monarchs in history but names remembered with derision.”
Nevertheless, pro-government social media accounts have now gone so far as to circulate posters equating Khamenei himself with Shapur, showing him standing with a staff as Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump kneel before him. The caption reads: “You will kneel before Iran.”
'Hypocrisy'
Pro-government figures have hailed the move as a patriotic success. Conservative political reporter Hossein Saremi posted: “Today’s grand Iranian gathering showed that people and the state share one essence: Iran itself. Nothing can take our homeland away.”
Others, however, called the spectacle “hypocrisy.” Journalist Gholamhossein Pashaei wrote on X: “Every year you close Pasargadae to stop people from celebrating Cyrus Day, yet you unveil Shapur’s statue in Enghelab Square with drums and fireworks during Fatimiyya (mourning period)!”
Dissident commentator Hamid Asafi called the ceremony “a perfect snapshot of the Islamic Republic’s contradictions.”
On Telegram he wrote: “A week ago they closed Cyrus’s tomb out of fear of the crowds, and now they glorify Shapur in the same breath. The Islamic Republic fears living history but poses for selfies with its corpse.”
He added: “They know people no longer respond to rosaries and sermons. That’s why they’ve brought history back to the stage—in a controlled costume. If they can’t erase the past, they’ll try to own it.”
The irony deepened as UNESCO formally recognized Cyrus’s Charter as one of the earliest human-rights documents.
President Masoud Pezeshkian wrote on X: “Iran, the cradle of dialogue, justice, and coexistence, can still inspire peace today.”
Users swiftly replied, questioning how such pride could coexist with a government that blocks access to Cyrus’s tomb each year to those wishing to visit it on his birthday.