Washington/Tel Aviv, Feb 28, (dpa/GN) – Israel and the United States, have launched wide-ranging attacks on Iran, triggering retaliatory strikes on Israel and US military forces based in the Middle East.
Israel announced the start of what it described as a “pre-emptive strike” on Saturday morning, setting off a wave of panic across the region, after weeks of threats over Iran’s nuclear programme.
President Donald Trump then confirmed in an eight-minute video message that US forces, were engaged in the “massive and ongoing” attacks, as he accused Tehran of pursuing a nuclear bomb.
He said the US-Israeli campaign was aimed at stopping “imminent threats” posed by Iran, and to crush its military, and then called on Iranians to use this moment to overthrow the government.
“When we are finished, take over your government,” he said. “It will be yours to take. This will be probably your only chance for generations. For many years you have asked for America’s help, but you never got it.
“No president was willing to do what I am willing to do tonight. Now you have a president who is giving you what you want. So let’s see how you respond.”
The Israeli military said forces carried out coordinated strikes on multiple locations in Tehran, targeting senior members of Iran’s leadership.
The sites were described as gathering points for high-ranking political and security officials.
Israel said the operation had been prepared over several months, with military intelligence support to identify the moment when key figures would be gathered.
The attacks began on Saturday morning and hit sites in Tehran. Explosions were also heard in the cities of Qom, Lorestan, Kermanshah, Karaj and Tabriz.
Iranian state media also reported blasts near Isfahan. An important nuclear site is situated south-east of the city, which was bombed by the US last year during a 12-day war between Israel and Iran.
Dozens of schoolgirls were killed in an airstrike on a primary school in Iran’s Hormozgan province, a senior provincial official told Iranian media. Hormozgan province is home to several Iranian naval bases.
Iranian media reported that the country’s top political leaders are still alive, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian.
According to witness reports from Tehran, the residence of the supreme leader was among targets hit.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video message: “This murderous terrorist regime must not be allowed to arm itself with nuclear weapons that would enable it to threaten all of humanity.”
“Our joint action will create the conditions for the brave Iranian people to take their destiny into their own hands,” Netanyahu said.
By Saturday afternoon, the Israeli military said it had struck “hundreds of Iranian military targets, including missile launchers in western Iran.”
“Netanyahu and Trump’s war on Iran is wholly unprovoked, illegal, and illegitimate,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on X. “Our Powerful Armed Forces are prepared for this day and will teach the aggressors the lesson they deserve.”
Iran retaliated by firing missiles toward Israel, where residents sought shelter amid repeated air raid alerts. Israel said it would call up around 70,000 reservists for the conflict.
One man was lightly injured by a blast wave, after Iranian missile strikes on Israel, the Magen David Adom rescue service said.
Others were hurt while rushing to shelters, or treated for anxiety as air raid sirens sounded across much of Israel and the West Bank.
Isolated impacts were reported, with debris cleared in Jerusalem and Beit Shemesh and a building damaged in Tirat Carmel south of Haifa.
Iran confirmed it launched attacks on US military bases in allied Gulf states, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait. Explosions were also reported in Saudi Arabia and Jordan.
Several of the countries targeted said they had repelled the attacks.
The United Arab Emirates, where one person was killed by falling debris from a missile in Abu Dhabi, described the attack as a “dangerous escalation” and a “cowardly act.”
The conflict comes after the US massively increased its military build-up in the region, in order to pressure Tehran to scale down its nuclear programme.
Trump had repeatedly threatened military action, if a negotiated solution was not found.
The latest round of indirect talks in Geneva between Iranian and US representatives, ended on Thursday without a breakthrough.
On Friday, Trump said he was “not exactly happy” with the talks held so far, having previously set a deadline for Iran to agree to a deal by around early March.
Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi, who mediated in indirect negotiations between the US and Iran, on Saturday lamented that fresh conflict had broken out.
“I am dismayed. Active and serious negotiations have yet again been undermined,” Albusaidi said.
“Neither the interests of the United States nor the cause of global peace are well served by this,” he added in a post on the social media platform X.
GNA