Iran’s Revolutionary Guard launched a massive salvo of 40 ballistic missiles at the US aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the north Arabian Sea, triggering the most dangerous showdown of the war so far, defence officials say. Aegis destroyers and carrier‑based defences intercepted the bulk of the barrage, with only minor damage reported to one escort ship.

But the real shock came next. US commanders reveal that just 12 seconds after confirming the hostile launch, a pre‑authorised “Omega Response” plan was green‑lit — unleashing waves of submarine‑launched cruise missiles, bomber‑dropped glide weapons and hypersonic strikes aimed squarely at Tehran’s military and political nerve centres.

Minutes later, residents in the Iranian capital watched the night sky erupt. Precision warheads slammed into Revolutionary Guard headquarters, air‑defence hubs, intelligence compounds and key communications nodes. Massive secondary explosions rolled across the city as fuel depots and ammunition stores ignited, plunging vast districts into darkness and severing command links with front‑line forces.

Satellite imagery reviewed by Western analysts shows entire government complexes reduced to smoking craters, major highways choked with fleeing civilians and hospitals overwhelmed by waves of blast and burn victims. Iranian state TV briefly appeared with shaken anchors promising “limitless revenge” — then flickered off air as backup transmitters failed.

Washington insists the strike was a lawful, pre‑planned response to any attempt to sink a US carrier. Critics warn that by effectively erasing Tehran’s command structure in minutes, America may have crossed an irreversible line — turning a brutal regional conflict into a capital‑shattering confrontation the world has spent decades trying to avoid.