The Washington Post mentioned yesterday that the U.S. has begun an air strike operation codenamed "Epic Wrath" against Iran. Trump did not specify how long this military action would last, nor did he reveal whether there could be any possible de-escalation in the near future, including the resumption of diplomatic negotiations. According to U.S. officials, this operation is likely to be measured in "days rather than hours," implying that the first day's strikes are part of a larger, coordinated effort. The U.S. has planned a series of escalating strikes and has set exit routes during the process. Each round of strikes will last one to two days, with pauses in between to re-deploy, assess damage, and plan further actions. Iran quickly launched a retaliatory attack, striking U.S. military bases in the Persian Gulf region and Israel, with missiles and drones hitting the headquarters of the U.S. Fifth Fleet in Bahrain and other U.S. bases in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. U.S. officials said that air defense systems intercepted some of the missiles launched by Iran, including those that attacked the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, the U.S. Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, the Ali Salem base in Kuwait, and the Dafra base in the UAE. According to Iranian state media, a school in a town in southern Iran was attacked, resulting in about 40 deaths. According to the Syrian news agency SANA, a missile from Iran hit a building in the industrial area of the southern city of Suwayda, killing four people. Suwayda is close to Israeli-controlled areas, so this missile may have been intended for an attack on Israel. The UAE stated that one person died in the Iranian attack. There are currently no reports of U.S. military casualties.
According to Reuters, before the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Saturday, the CIA assessed that even if Iran's Supreme Leader Khamenei were killed in the operation, power might be taken over by hardline figures within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). This assessment, completed by the CIA in the past two weeks, examined various scenarios that could arise in Iran after U.S. involvement, as well as the extent to which the military action might lead to a change in the Iranian regime—a goal that has now become a clear U.S. demand. A figure from the Revolutionary Guard taking power was one of the scenarios considered in the assessment. On Saturday morning, Trump, in a video speech, labeled the current Iranian government as a "terrorist regime" and encouraged the Iranian people to seize power, saying that the U.S. military strikes would create conditions for popular uprisings. Trump also said today that he already has a successor to Khamenei in mind but did not reveal who it was.
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Original article: toutiao.com/article/1858432613572618/
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