Donald Trump has launched Operation Epic Fury against Iran...

American and Israeli strikes again the regime in Tehran have begun, so has Iran's reponse.

I spent Friday afternoon interviewing John Bolton and Jonathan Panikoff of the Atlantic Institute about the possibility of an American strike on Iran, how likely it was, what the strategic objectives would be and whether toppling the regime would be part of the plan.

Despite his very public falling out with Trump after working with him, Ambassador Bolton was fully supportive striking Iran. These interviews were supposed to be for Monday’s episode of the Full Comment Podcast, we shall see what happens now.

A big part of our discussion was about how we didn’t know if a strike would happen. Trump had mused about a strike while speaking to journalists before flying out to Texas, but he said he hadn’t made up his mind.

Now we know that he did make up his mind and the strikes have begun.

In the early hours of Saturday morning, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that the United States had begun striking Iran. This appears to be more than a limited strike, it’s not a full scale war, it won’t be an invasion, but expect several days of bombing from air and sea.

President Trump spoke directly to the American people, but also the Iranian people.

“For many years, you have asked for America’s help, but you never got it,” Trump said. “No president was willing to do what I am willing to do tonight. Now you have a president who is giving you what you want, so let’s see how you respond. America is backing you with overwhelming strength and devastating force.”

These strikes will be welcomed by many people inside Iran and many in the Iranian diaspora.

Iran should never have a nuclear weapon…

In his video message, Trump made clear that Iran will never obtain a nuclear weapon and that the United States will crush the Iranian military including it’s navy which has caused havoc in the Persian Gulf.

Unlike in Venezuela, Trump is getting some strong support from other foreign leaders including Emanuel Macron in France. That said, Britain’s Keir Starmer refused the United States permission to use American bases in the United Kingdom to carry out the strike.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, currently travelling in India issued a statement in support of the strikes.

Canada’s position remains clear: the Islamic Republic of Iran is the principal source of instability and terror throughout the Middle East, has one of the world’s worst human rights records, and must never be allowed to obtain or develop nuclear weapons.

The statement also echoed the American position on Iran’s nuclear program.

Canada supports the United States acting to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and to prevent its regime from further threatening international peace and security.

It’s a good statement from the Carney government, better than I was expecting.

I will be writing about this conflict for the Toronto Sun later today and will have more to say here as well as we learn more.

These strikes on Iran are justified for many reasons including their attacks on Canadians, on our American allies, in terror attacks on countries around the world, their support of terror groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis.