BY SARAH DAVIS, The Hill: 

Reactions from world leaders poured out early Saturday after the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran.

The initiation of “Operation Epic Fury,” which came after weeks of threats from President Trump over the Middle Eastern nation’s nuclear program, sparked support from allies but also stoked fear in many countries in the region about the possibility of a wider conflict.

Omani foreign minister Badr al-Busaidi, who has led indirect talks between the U.S. and Iran in recent months, said he was “dismayed” by the news.”

“I am dismayed. Active and serious negotiations have yet again been undermined,” Busaidi posted on the social platform X.

“Neither the interests of the United States nor the cause of global peace are well served by this,” he continued. “And I pray for the innocents who will suffer. I urge the United States not to get sucked in further. This is not your war.”

Busaidi met with Vice President Vance yesterday following the latest rounds of meetings between Iranian and American officials, in which he said “significant progress” had been made. Technical teams were set to meet in Vienna next week to continue nuclear talks.

The joint strikes follow the Friday arrival of the USS Gerald R. Ford, the nation’s largest aircraft carrier, to Israel. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz declared a “special and immediate state of emergency” on Friday morning.

“For 47 years, the Ayatollahs’ regime has chanted ‘Death to Israel,’ ‘Death to America.’ It has spilled our blood, murdered many Americans, and massacred its own people,” Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu posted to X.

“This murderous terrorist regime must not be allowed to arm itself with nuclear weapons that would enable it to threaten all of humanity,” he continued. “Our joint operation will create the conditions for the brave Iranian people to take their fate into their own hands.”

Saudi Arabia condemned Iranian attacks on targets in the Persian Gulf in a statement shared with NewsNation, The Hill’s sister network.

“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia condemns and denounces in the strongest terms the treacherous Iranian aggression and the blatant violation of the sovereignty of each of the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Bahrain, the State of Qatar, the State of Kuwait, and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, affirming its full solidarity and standing by the side of the sister states, and placing all its capabilities at their disposal to support them in all measures they take, and warning of the grave consequences of the continued violation of the sovereignty of states and the principles of international law,” the country said in the statement.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called the attack on Iran “greatly concerning” in an X post Saturday morning.

“In close coordination with EU Member States, we will take all necessary steps to ensure that EU citizens in the region can count on our full support,” von der Leyen said. “We call on all parties to exercise maximum restraint, to protect civilians, and to fully respect international law.”

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev also reacted to the military operation in a post online, saying, “The peacekeeper is at it again.”

“The talks with Iran were just a cover. Everyone knew that,” Medvedev wrote. “So who has more patience to wait for the enemy’s sorry end now? The US is just 249 years old. The Persian Empire was founded over 2500 years ago. Let’s see what happens in 100 years or so…”

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said his government is tracking the situation in Iran “closely” and urged Canadians currently in the country to “shelter in place.”

“Canada supports the United States acting to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and to prevent its regime from further threatening international peace and security,” Carney posted online.

“The Canadian government urges the protection of all civilians in this conflict. We will take all possible measures to protect our nationals and Canadian diplomatic missions throughout the region,” he added.

Trump in a video posted to Truth Social also encouraged the Iranian citizens to topple the regime. He later told the Washington Post that he wants the nation to be “safe” and “freedom for Iranians.

Iran quickly responded to the attacks on Saturday, launching missiles toward Israel.

“Netanyahu and Trump’s war on Iran is wholly unprovoked, illegal, and illegitimate,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on X. “Trump has turned ‘America First’ into ‘Israel First’—which always means ‘America Last'”

“Our Powerful Armed Forces are prepared for this day and will teach the aggressors the lesson they deserve,” he added.

The Houthis, a militant group in Yemen backed by Iran, defended Tehran after the strikes and suggested the group would take action in response.

“It is the duty of the Arab and Islamic nation—states, peoples, and all the free people of the world threatened by the barbaric, savage, and frenzied American policy—to take serious and effective action to confront this treacherous aggression and work immediately to stop it, and to declare all forms and types of solidarity with the Islamic Republic in Iran and with the right of its people to life, freedom, and dignity,” the group wrote in a statement obtained by NewsNation.

Russia also condemned the strikes, according to The Associated Press, and called for a return to diplomacy.

In a post to Telegram, Russia’s foreign ministry blasted the operation as “unprovoked act of armed aggression” against another U.N. member and accused the Trump administration of using Iran’s nuclear program as a cover for seeking regime change.