The U.S. military has begun “major combat operations” in Iran, U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed on Saturday, as explosions were heard in cities around the Middle East. “Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime, a vicious group of very hard, terrible people,” Trump said in a video message on his Truth Social account. A U.S. official confirmed earlier that American forces attacked Iran by air and sea, Reuters reported. It also cited an unidentified Iranian official as saying that several ministries in the southern part of the Iranian capital, Tehran, were targeted Explosions were heard in key cities around the Middle East, including Jerusalem as Iran launched counterattacks. CNBC producer Joan Muwahed in Dubai reported hearing two explosions over the city in the United Arab Emirates. Qatar and the UAE condemned Iranian missile counterattacks. “The State of Qatar expresses its strong condemnation of the targeting of Qatari territory with Iranian ballistic missiles, considering it a flagrant violation of its national sovereignty,” Qatar’s Ministry of Defense said …