President Donald Trump announced early Saturday that the U.S. military has launched “major combat operations” against Iran alongside its ally Israel.

“Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime, a vicious group of very hard, terrible people. Its menacing activities directly endanger the United States, our troops, our bases overseas and our allies throughout the world,” Trump said in an eight-minute video posted on Truth Social.

The president enumerated Iran's long history of violence against America dating to the U.S. embassy hostage crisis of 1979 and its support of terrorist proxies like Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthi rebels who have menaced the West for decades.

He urged the Iranian people to use the military intervention as an opportunity to take over their government after months of unrest, including a brutal crackdown on protesters by the governing mullahs that has killed thousands.

“I say tonight that the hour of your freedom is at hand,” he said, adding that “bombs will be dropping everywhere."