{"id":315022,"date":"2026-02-28T17:23:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T17:23:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/315022\/"},"modified":"2026-02-28T17:23:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T17:23:07","slug":"why-are-the-us-and-israel-attacking-iran-what-we-know-so-far-israel-iran-conflict-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/315022\/","title":{"rendered":"Why are the US and Israel attacking Iran? What we know so far | Israel-Iran conflict News"},"content":{"rendered":"

The United States and Israel have struck multiple locations across Iran<\/a>, including the capital, Tehran, in what US President Donald Trump described as \u201cmajor combat operations\u201d.<\/p>\n

The attacks come amid negotiations between the US and Iran over the latter\u2019s nuclear and ballistic missiles programmes, after weeks of mounting threats from Trump \u2013 and eight months after the US and Israel waged a 12-day war against Iran.<\/p>\n

Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list<\/p>\n

Iran has struck back with missiles aimed at northern Israel and at US military bases in the Middle East. Details of casualties and damage in Iran and Israel are sparse at the moment.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what we know so far:<\/p>\n

What happened in Iran?<\/p>\n

At about 9:27am (06:27 GMT), Iran\u2019s Fars news agency reported a series of explosions in the capital, Tehran.<\/p>\n

Al Jazeera\u2019s correspondent in western Tehran said he heard two explosions, while videos shared on social media showed smoke rising from several parts of the city.<\/p>\n

Israel first announced that it had launched missile strikes on targets inside Iran.<\/p>\n

A US official told Al Jazeera that the strikes were carried out as part of a joint military operation with Israel. In recent weeks, Washington has assembled a large fleet of fighter jets and warships in the region, its most significant military buildup<\/a> there since the Iraq War.<\/p>\n

Trump described the operation as \u201cmassive and ongoing\u201d.<\/p>\n

The US Department of Defense later said the mission was named \u201cOperation Epic Fury\u201d, in the first public statement from the US military since the start of the joint US-Israeli attack.<\/p>\n

Where in Iran have the US and Israel attacked?<\/p>\n

Several missiles struck University Street and the Jomhouri area in Tehran, and close to Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps headquarters, Fars reported.<\/p>\n

The Associated Press news agency reported that a strike in Iran\u2019s capital happened near the offices of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s semiofficial Tasnim news agency reported that explosions also occurred in Tehran\u2019s northern Seyyed Khandan area.<\/p>\n

Explosions have also been reported in the cities of Kermanshah, Qom, Tabriz, Isfahan, Ilam and Karaj, as well as in Lorestan province, according to local media.<\/p>\n

\"INTERACTIVE<\/p>\n

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What did Trump say?<\/p>\n

While announcing \u201cmajor combat operations\u201d, Trump said the aim of the US campaign was to \u201cdestroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are going to annihilate their navy,\u201d Trump added.<\/p>\n

Here are the key points of his message:<\/p>\n

The US has begun major combat operations in Iran, describing them as \u201cmassive and ongoing\u201d.
\nThe stated aim is to eliminate what Washington calls imminent threats from the Iranian government.<\/p>\n

Trump said the campaign\u2019s military objectives include:<\/p>\n

Destroying Iran\u2019s missile capabilities.
\nTarget Iran\u2019s navy.
\nDisrupting Iran-backed armed groups in the region.
\nMaking sure that Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon.<\/p>\n

He also laid out a warning-cum-offer to Iran\u2019s military personnel. If they laid down their weapons, Trump said, he would ensure they had amnesty. But if they did not, he warned, they would face \u201ccertain death\u201d. He acknowledged US forces could face casualties.<\/p>\n

Reuters quoted a US official as saying that the Trump administration was planning a \u201cmultiday operation\u201d.<\/p>\n

The US president\u2019s comments suggest that Trump was setting \u201cthe table for a revolution in Iran\u201d \u2014 73 years after the CIA orchestrated a coup against democratically elected Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh, Al Jazeera\u2019s Alan Fisher reported from Washington.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve done it before. This time, they\u2019re doing it with weapons and bombs rather than covertly through the CIA,\u201d Fisher said. \u201cIt\u2019s clear that this is going to be a continuous military operation, with Donald Trump accepting the fact that there may be casualties.\u201d<\/p>\n

How are the US and Israel justifying their attack on Iran?<\/p>\n

US and Israeli attacks on Iran follow years of confrontation over Tehran\u2019s nuclear programme and regional influence.<\/p>\n

The two allies have long claimed that Iran\u2019s advancing enrichment activities and missile capabilities pose a threat to them, and they have repeatedly warned that they could use force against Tehran. Iran has publicly committed \u2014 repeatedly \u2014 that it has no intention of building a nuclear bomb. Israel is the only Middle Eastern nation to have nuclear weapons.<\/p>\n

In June last year, Israel and the US attacked Iranian nuclear and military sites, assassinating several senior commanders.<\/p>\n

The current escalation began after Omani mediators announced progress in Geneva negotiations, where Iran had reportedly agreed to zero uranium stockpiling and full verification by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).<\/p>\n

Both the US and Israel have also argued that this is an opportunity for Iranians to \u201ctake over\u201d the government.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will be, probably, your only chance for generations,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n

What is Iran\u2019s response?<\/p>\n

Iran retaliated by first launching missiles towards Israel, according to the Israeli military. Air-raid sirens sounded in several parts of the country, and explosions were reported in northern Israel.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe public is requested to follow the instructions of the Home Front Command,\u201d Israel\u2019s military said in a statement. \u201cAt this time, the Israeli Air Force is operating to intercept and strike threats where necessary to remove the threat.\u201d<\/p>\n

But soon after, Iranian forces launched missiles at several locations linked to US military operations across the region, including:<\/p>\n

Al Udeid airbase in Qatar.
\nAl-Salem airbase in Kuwait.
\nAl-Dhafra airbase in the United Arab Emirates.
\nThe US Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain.
\nExplosions were also heard in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
\nUS bases were also reportedly attacked in Jordan<\/p>\n

Earlier, Ebrahim Azizi, head of the Iranian parliament\u2019s national security commission, threatened a \u201ccrushing\u201d response. \u201cWe warned you!\u201d Azizi wrote on social media. \u201cNow you have started down a path whose end is no longer in your control.\u201d\u2060<\/p>\n

What did Israel\u2019s Netanyahu say?<\/p>\n

In a statement, Israel\u2019s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the military operation \u201cwill continue as long as necessary.\u201d He said the Israeli operation was called \u201cLion\u2019s Roar\u201d.<\/p>\n

Where are Iran\u2019s leaders?<\/p>\n

It is not immediately clear where the 86-year-old Khamenei<\/a> is. He hasn\u2019t been seen publicly in days as tensions with the United States have grown.<\/p>\n

Roads to Khamenei\u2019s compound in downtown Tehran were shut down by authorities as blasts rang out across the capital.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Iran\u2019s state-run IRNA news agency quoted a source in the presidential office as saying that President Masoud Pezeshkian was unharmed.<\/p>\n

How has the world reacted?
\nOman: Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said that active and serious negotiations mediated by his country between Iran and the US were \u201cyet again undermined\u201d amid the ongoing escalation, and urged the US \u201cnot to get sucked in further\u201d.<\/p>\n

Qatar condemned the Iranian attack, describing it as \u201ca flagrant violation of its national sovereignty,\u201d while adding that the country reserves the right of response in according with international law.
\nThe United Arab Emirates condemned the Iranian missile attacks that reportedly killed a Pakistani national earlier, warning of \u201cgrave consequences\u201d if such violations continue.
\nEuropean Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas described the situation as \u201cperilous\u201d and called for civilians to be protected and international law to be upheld.
\nFrench President Emmanuel Macron warned that the conflict involving the US, Israel and Iran carries \u201cgrave consequences for international peace and security\u201d, adding, \u201cThe current escalation is dangerous for everyone. It must stop.\u201d
\nIn Russia, Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev criticised Trump, accusing Washington of using negotiations with Iran as a \u201ccover operation\u201d and questioning how the confrontation would unfold in the long term.
\nThe UK said that Iran must never be allowed to develop nuclear weapons and\u00a0stood ready to defend its interests.
\nCanada\u2019s Prime Minister Mark Carney said the country supports US efforts to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and from further threatening international peace and security.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The United States and Israel have struck multiple locations across Iran, including the capital, Tehran, in what US…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":315023,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[16142,1153,5697,85,87,46,14176,47,2899,43,8717,1032],"class_list":["post-315022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-al-jazeera","tag-conflict","tag-explainer","tag-il","tag-iran","tag-israel","tag-israel-iran-conflict","tag-middle-east","tag-military","tag-news","tag-nuclear-weapons","tag-united-states"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315022","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=315022"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315022\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/315023"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=315022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=315022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=315022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}