The United States and Israel launched a joint military operation against Iran in what President Donald Trump called major combat operations aimed at regime change. Israeli officials told the United States that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the strikes.
The operation, codenamed “Epic Fury” by the Pentagon and “Roaring Lion” by Israel, triggered Iranian retaliation against U.S. military bases and allies across the Middle East.
In an eight-minute video posted to Truth Social around 2:30 a.m. ET on Feb. 28, Trump said the United States had begun a large military campaign.
“A short time ago, the United States military began major combat operations in Iran,” Trump said. “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 also urged the Iranian public to take over their government once the bombing ended. He said it may be their only chance for generations.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a nationally televised address that there are many signs Khamenei was no longer alive. Israel’s ambassador to Washington Yechiel Leiter told U.S. officials that Khamenei was killed and his body recovered from a destroyed compound.
Trump told NBC News in a phone interview that the report appeared credible.
“We feel that that is a correct story,” Trump said. “A large number of their leaders have also been killed.”
According to Al Jazeera, citing Iran’s Red Crescent, at least 201 people were killed across 24 provinces, and 747 were injured.
The Israel Defense Forces said several senior Iranian officials were killed, including Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Mohammad Pakpour, Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh, Ali Shamkhani, a senior adviser to Khamenei and Mohammad Bagheri, chief of staff of the Iranian Armed Forces.
Iranian state media reported that a strike hit the Shajareh Tayyebeh (Shajarah Tayyebeh) all-girls’ primary school in Minab, Hormozgan province, southern Iran, on the morning of Saturday, Feb. 28, killing at least 165 students, staff and others. The United States and Israel have denied deliberately targeting the civilian school. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that American forces “would not deliberately target a school.”
Trump expressed frustration with the negotiations during his State of the Union address on Feb. 24. “We have not heard those secret words: we will never have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said.
The military buildup began after Trump issued a warning on Truth Social on Jan. 2.
“If Iran shoots and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue,” Trump wrote. “We are locked and loaded and ready to go.”
The warning followed widespread anti-government protests in Iran after the collapse of the trial.
The death toll from the crackdown remains disputed. Iran’s government said 3,117 people were killed. The U.S-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reported more than 7,000 deaths. Trump said during the State of the Union on Feb. 24 that 32,000 people were killed, a figure higher than most independent estimates.
Republican leaders largely supported the strikes.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he commended Trump for taking action to stop threats from Iran. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina called the speech “the catalyst for the most historic change in the Middle East in a thousand years” in posts on X. He added that the fall of the ayatollah’s regime was necessary and justified. Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, wrote that the “butcher’s bill” had finally come due for the ayatollahs. “Iran has waged war against the United States for 47 years,” Cotton said.
Some Republicans opposed the move. Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky said the strikes were acts of war not authorized by Congress. “This is not ‘America First,’” Massie said.
Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky criticized what he called another presidential war and quoted John Quincy Adams, saying America does not go abroad in search of monsters to destroy.
Democrats called for congressional authorization. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer urged the Senate to “return to session” and vote on a War Powers resolution. Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, warned that American lives could be lost. California Governor Gavin Newsom said Iran’s government should not possess nuclear weapons but accused President Donald Trump of launching an illegal and dangerous war.
“The corrupt and repressive Iranian regime must never have nuclear weapons. The leadership of Iran must go,” Newsom wrote on X. “But that does not justify the president of the United States engaging in an illegal, dangerous war that will risk the lives of our American service members and our friends.”
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard launched what it called a first wave of missiles and drones targeting Israel and U.S. military installations in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. CNN reported videos showing missiles striking near the headquarters of the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet in Bahrain. One civilian in the UAE was killed by falling debris from interceptors.
Saudi Arabia condemned what it described as brutal Iranian aggression after missiles were launched toward Riyadh.
Reza Pahlavi, son of Iran’s last shah, urged Iranians to prepare for renewed protests as the Islamic Republic collapses. He called on security forces to join the public to ensure a stable transition. Otherwise, he warned, they would sink with Khamenei’s regime.
The European Union called for maximum restraint in a statement from European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Norway’s foreign minister Espen Barth said the Israeli attack was not consistent with international law because preventive strikes require an immediate threat.
Trump said the operation could continue for several days and possibly weeks, depending on developments. Unlike Operation Midnight Hammer in June 2025, which lasted 12 days, administration officials indicated this campaign could be open-ended. Trump also called on members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard to “lay down their arms” in exchange for what he described as complete immunity. Otherwise, they would face certain death, he said.
Iran has faced sustained criticism from international organizations over its treatment of women and civil liberties. The 2023 U.S. State Department human rights report said women face discrimination and expanded enforcement of mandatory dress codes. The report also cited arbitrary arrests, restrictions on expression and assembly and allegations of torture and harsh prison conditions.
United Nations officials and rights groups say pressure on women and activists increased after the 2022 protests sparked by the death of Jina Mahsa Amini in police custody. The U.N. fact-finding mission said authorities increased surveillance and enforcement of mandatory hijab rules. Proposed legislation could impose heavier fines, prison sentences, travel bans and limits on work or education. Amnesty International warned in 2024 that a new compulsory veiling law could further tighten restrictions on women and girls.
“Khamenei, one of the most evil people in history, is dead,” President Donald Trump said in a post on Truth Social, calling the killing justice for Iranians, Americans and others he said were harmed by Iran’s leadership. “This is the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their country,” he said.
Analysts caution that Khamenei’s death does not equate to regime change in Iran. Linda Robinson, a Senior Fellow for Women and Foreign Policy at the Council on Foreign Relations, noted, “Taking out Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is not the same as regime change. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is the regime,” suggesting limited prospects for immediate transformation.
In a joint statement on Feb. 28 from the leaders of France, Germany and the United Kingdom, known as the E3, they stated, “Ultimately, the Iranian people must be allowed to determine their future.”
As of Mar. 2, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed that six American service members were killed in action during Operation Epic Fury, the joint U.S.-Israeli military campaign against Iran, with the death toll rising after the recovery of two additional individuals from a facility struck during Iran’s initial retaliatory attacks in Kuwait. The fatalities occurred amid Iranian strikes on U.S. positions in the region, including a direct hit on a makeshift operations center at Kuwait’s Shuaiba port, marking the first U.S. combat deaths in the conflict that began on Feb. 28. Additionally, 18 service members were reported seriously wounded.
Iran escalated its retaliation on Mar. 3 by launching retaliatory strikes on multiple U.S. diplomatic and military structures across the Gulf region, including the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where two drones caused a limited fire and minor material damage, prompting the embassy’s closure and a shelter-in-place order for personnel.
Similar attacks targeted the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait City, leading to its shutdown, as well as the U.S. Consulate in Dubai and a base in Bahrain, while a fuel tank at Oman’s Duqm port was hit, disrupting regional energy supplies.
Iran claims the Strait of Hormuz is closed and Iran would set “ablaze” any ship trying to transit, prompting Trump to order US Navy escorts for tankers and insurance via the Development Finance Corporation. “No matter what, the United States will ensure the FREE FLOW of ENERGY to the WORLD,” Trump said.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a post on X on Mar. 3 at 12:55 p.m. ET said, “The United States State Department is actively working on plans to help Americans in the Middle East return home.”
Copy edited by Kennedi Bryant