Trump has said the aim of the operation is to “ensure that Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon”.

“We’re going to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground. It will be totally again obliterated,” he said in an eight-minute video posted on Truth Social on Saturday morning.

He also warned Iran’s armed forces to lay down their weapons in return for “complete immunity”, or “face certain death”.

He then urged Iranian people to prepare to overthrow the clerical establishment: “When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will be probably your only chance for generations.”

The massive military operation – which the US has dubbed Operation Epic Fury – comes after weeks of threats from Trump that he would order military action if Iran did not agree to a new deal over its nuclear programme.

Iran has repeatedly said its nuclear activities are entirely peaceful.

The US military Central Command said they wanted to “dismantle the Iranian regime’s security apparatus, prioritising locations that posed an imminent threat”.

Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel and the US had launched the “operation to remove the existential threat posed by the terrorist regime in Iran”.