US President Donald Trump stated that the joint US-Israeli attacks on Iran are aimed at "eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime".

"A short time ago, US military began a major combat operation in Iran. Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating threats from the Iranian regime," he said on Saturday.

Trump made several other claims and predictions without concrete evidence, as Iran promised a "crushing" retaliation. Iran is preparing to "take revenge" on Israel and deliver a "strong response", according to state TV reports.

Iran has repeatedly stated it would never build a nuclear weapon and that its nuclear program is for civilian purposes only. Neither US intelligence nor the UN nuclear watchdog have found evidence that Iran was pursuing an atomic weapon, a narrative pushed by Israel and some in the Trump administration.

Al Jazeera's Alan Fisher, reporting from Washington, said sources indicated that "US involvement in this attack is aimed at 'decapitating the Iranian regime'".

"They say that from what they can understand, the attacks were concentrated on areas where Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei may be sheltering, so the intention was to try and take out the head of the regime and then see what would happen afterwards," he added.

One of the areas targeted in Iran's capital was near the offices of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, The Associated Press reported. Khamenei is not in Tehran and has been transferred to a secure location, according to an official quoted by Reuters.

"There are countries that have been cautioning the US against this attack and wanted to know what the plan for the day after would be, simply because you can't guarantee that by removing the supreme leader you would necessarily form a pro-US government," Fisher said.

Source: www.aljazeera.com