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US and Israel attack Iran as Tehran retaliates across Middle East
US President Donald Trump called for regime change in Tehran, telling Iranians "the hour of your freedom is at hand."

Updated 11:26 AM EST, Sat February 28, 2026

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Here's the latest
• US and Israel strike Iran: The US and Israel have attacked Iran. Israel said its strikes targeted Iran’s supreme leader, president and head of the armed forces. The US is planning for several days of attacks, sources tell CNN.

• Trump calls for regime change: President Donald Trump described the US military campaign as “massive and ongoing,” and warned American lives may be lost. He also called on Iranians to “take over your government.”

• Iran retaliates: Iran launched an unprecedented wave of strikes toward Israel and US targets across the Middle East. Explosions were reported in the UAE, Qatar, Dubai and Bahrain, where video shows the moment a missile struck a US Navy base.

• Global reaction: The United Arab Emirates called the conflict a “historic moment” in the Middle East, saying world leaders had failed to ensure the region’s stability. The leaders of some US allies expressed concern, while some Arab nations condemned Iran’s retaliation.

One thing I learned by this latest attack on Iran is that "totally obliterated" doesn't carry the same weight it used to if you have to "re-obliterate" it eight months later.

I mean they had to do something and they had to do it NOW am I right?

Live updates: U.S. and Israel launch major attack on Iran

President Donald Trump urged Iranians to “take over your government” when the strikes are over. Tehran responded by targeting American bases and other targets throughout the region.


What to know

MAJOR JOINT ATTACK: The United States launched "major combat operations" in Iran, joined by Israel, President Donald Trump announced in a video message today.

IRAN'S LEADERS TARGETED: Israel targeted Iranian political and military leaders, two U.S. officials told NBC News, while the U.S. aimed to take out Iran’s ballistic missile and nuclear programs.

TRUMP URGES REGIME CHANGE: Trump urged Iranians to “take over your government” when the strikes are over. “The hour of your freedom is at hand,” he said.

IRAN RETALIATION: Iran responded by firing missiles at Israel as well as at U.S. bases across the region in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan, sending ripples across the Middle East.

TEHRAN WILLING TO TALK: In an exclusive interview with NBC News, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran was interested in de-escalation and willing to talk if the U.S. and Israel halted attacks. He told Trump that regime change was "mission impossible"

NUCLEAR TALKS: The U.S. built up a massive military presence in the Middle East while holding talks with the Islamic Republic over a new deal to curtail its nuclear program. Araghchi told NBC News that the two sides were close to a deal, decrying the joint strikes while talks were ongoing.

Bessent says Treasury Department reaffirms commitment to 'maximum pressure campaign' on Iran after strikes

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, in a post on social media, says the department is reaffirming its commitment to Trump's "maximum pressure campaign" after the U.S. struck Iran.

In recent weeks, the Treasury has sanctioned dozens of entities and individuals for what it said were evasions of sanctions that have enabled the regime to sell oil and gas and produce weapons.

Bessent said the Treasury would continue "tracking all illegal funds" and work to retrieve those funds "on behalf of the Iranian people."

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Death toll from strike on Iran girls school reportedly rises as president condemns 'cowardly attack'

The death toll from what Iran says was an attack on a girls school in the province of Minab has risen to 85, according to state news agency IRIB News.

NBC News has not independently verified the claims.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian condemned what he called a “cowardly attack” on Shajareh Tayyebeh elementary school, adding that it had "caused deep pain to the hearts of the Iranian nation and all free people of the world."

"This brutal act is another dark page in the record of countless crimes by aggressors against this land and will never be erased from the historical memory of our nation," Pezeshkian said in the statement.

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New explosions heard in Tehran

Reporting from Tehran

New, loud explosions can be heard in the Iranian capital.

The massive blasts come hours after the U.S. and Israel first launched their joint attack on the country.

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Trump and Netanyahu speak after joint Iran attack as president monitors events from Mar-a-Lago

President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke after conducting their joint attack on Iran today.

Netanyahu's office shared a photo of the Israeli leader on the phone. The White House confirmed that the pair spoke today about the strikes, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying that Trump had monitored the situation overnight at Mar-a-Lago alongside members of his national security team.

Trump and his national security team will continue to closely monitor the situation throughout the day, Leavitt said.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is at Mar-a-Lago and has been continually briefing the president, a White House official told NBC News.

https://www.nbcnews.com/world/iran/live-blog/israel-iran-live-updates-rcna261099

Absolute lies. But then we expect nothing less. It was only a few months ago they struck and announced the complete annihilation of Iran's capacity to enrich uranium and it prevented their ability to create nuclear weapons.

Wait a few days - this will become "well it's okay because the regime change is justified"

Full list of major US military bases in the Middle East amid Iran-Israel escalation

Explosions were also reported in Kuwait, Qatar, Abu Dhabi and Dubai as tensions escalated across the Gulf.
Updated on: Feb 28, 2026 5:11 PM IST

By
Vaishnavi Vaidyanathan
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The United States and Israel launched coordinated strikes on targets across Iran on Saturday in an operation the Pentagon has named “Operation Epic Fury.”


In retaliation, Iran’s paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it had launched a “first wave” of drones and missiles targeting Israel.

Bahrain said a missile targeted the headquarters of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet in the island kingdom.

Explosions were also reported in Kuwait, Qatar, Abu Dhabi and Dubai as tensions escalated across the Gulf.

Also Read: US attacks Iran LIVE: 1 killed in UAE, fresh blasts heard in Dubai, Saudi's Riyadh amid Iran's counter missile salvo

US military bases in the Middle East
Amid the widening crisis, here is a look at major US military bases and facilities across the Middle East:

Bahrain
Naval Support Activity Bahrain — It is the headquarters of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, and oversees naval operations in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Arabian Sea and parts of the Indian Ocean. The base hosts thousands of US military personnel and serves as a key maritime command center in the region.

Qatar
Al Udeid Air Base — It is the largest US military base in the Middle East. Located in the desert southwest of Doha, the base serves as the forward headquarters for CENTCOM. It hosts US Air Forces Central and can accommodate over 10,000 troops.

Kuwait
Camp Arifjan — The forward headquarters of US Army Central (ARCENT) and a major logistics and sustainment hub southeast of Kuwait City.

Camp Buehring — An Army staging post near the Iraq border, originally built during the 2003 Iraq War and used for deployments into Iraq and Syria.

United Arab Emirates (UAE)
Al Dhafra Air Base — Situated south of Abu Dhabi and shared with UAE forces, this base is a critical US Air Force hub supporting reconnaissance missions, fighter deployments and broader regional operations.

Jordan
Muwaffaq Salti Air Base — Also known as Azraq Air Base, it is located northeast of Amman. The base hosts elements of US Air Forces Central and supports operations across the Levant.

Saudi Arabia
Prince Sultan Air Base — A key facility used for air defence operations, fighter deployments and wider regional missions.

Iraq
Ain al-Asad Air Base (Al Anbar province) — A major site supporting Iraqi security forces, coalition missions and NATO activities. The US military presence has fluctuated in recent years but remains active.

It's the Iraq story all over again. "Saddam has tons of WMD! Oh, he didn't have any? That's okay he was a bad guy anyway."

Only with this administration we'll probably just be told lies and we'll never know the truth anyway. At least we found out the truth about Saddam not having WMD.

I heard from the news last week that the in the negotiations;
Iran said that they would not perform any more work on the (3) underground nuke bunkers that were supposedly completely obliterated last year.
Iran said that they would lower enrichment levels to a level below where they negotiated with Obama-giving trump a win.
Iran supposedly also said that they would give the US access to Iran's oil, gas and rare earth minerals.

I guess that wasn't enough.

Now that it has been made clear that a regime change is a high priority, it makes me question if this attack really was motivated by Iran's nuclear program. Claiming it was obliterated just moths ago and now claiming they were only a week away from having a nuke didn't sound credible from the start.

And this from Trumps best buddy...


Russia condemns US-Israel strikes on Iran as 'unprovoked act of armed aggression'

The Associated Press
Updated Sat, February 28, 2026 at 9:46 AM EST
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Russia on Saturday condemned the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran as “a preplanned and unprovoked act of armed aggression against a sovereign and independent U.N. member state,” demanding an immediate halt to the military campaign and a return to diplomacy.

In a statement posted to Telegram, the Foreign Ministry accused Washington and Tel Aviv of “hiding behind” concerns about Iran’s nuclear program while actually pursuing regime change.

It warned the attacks risked triggering a “humanitarian, economic and possibly radiological catastrophe” in the region and accused the U.S. and Israel of “plunging the Middle East into an abyss of uncontrolled escalation.”

Russia has emerged as a key trade partner and supplier of weapons and technologies for Iran, which has faced bruising international sanctions. Though Russia’s Foreign Ministry was quick to condemn the U.S.-Israeli attacks, the Kremlin will likely carefully assess its response following a recent warming of ties between Moscow and Washington.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has praised U.S. President Donald Trump’s efforts to mediate an end to the conflict in Ukraine, and Moscow and Washington have discussed ways to revive their economic ties.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke by phone with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, Russia's Foreign Ministry said. Araghchi briefed Lavrov on Iran’s attempts to repel the attacks and said Iran would seek to convene an urgent U.N. Security Council session, it said. Lavrov reiterated Russia’s condemnation of the U.S.-Israeli strikes and Moscow’s readiness to help broker peace.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin discussed the situation in Iran with Russia's Security Council via videoconference, but did not give details.

In the Foreign Ministry statement, Moscow called the bombing of nuclear facilities under International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards “unacceptable” and said it stood ready to help broker a peaceful resolution, while placing full responsibility for the escalation on the United States and Israel.

"Responsibility for the negative consequences of this manmade crisis, including an unpredictable chain reaction and spiraling violence, lies entirely with them," the statement said.

Russia's Foreign Ministry also condemned what it called “the serial nature of destabilizing attacks carried out by the U.S. administration," accusing the U.S. of attacking "the international legal pillars of the world order."

Russia has maintained a delicate balancing act in the Middle East for decades, trying to navigate its warm relations with Israel even as it has developed strong economic and military ties with Iran.

Iranian forces and Russian sailors conducted annual drills in the Gulf of Oman and the Indian Ocean last week aimed at “upgrading operational coordination as well as exchange of military experiences,” Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported.

Putin and his Iranian counterpart, Masoud Pezeshkian, signed a broad cooperation pact in January last year as their countries deepened their partnership in the face of stinging Western sanctions.

The West alleges that in 2022, Russia and Iran signed a $1.7 billion deal for Shahed drones after Putin sent troops into Ukraine, and the U.S. also believes Iran has transferred short-range ballistic missiles, but neither Moscow nor Tehran ever acknowledged the actions.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy voiced support for the strikes on Iran, calling it "an accomplice of Putin” for supplying Moscow with Shahed drones and the technology to produce them and other weapons during its four-
year war against Ukraine.

Russia and Iran also pooled their efforts to shore up Bashar Assad’s government during Syria’s civil war, but failed to prevent his downfall after a lightning offensive by the opposition. Assad and his family fled to Russia.

Some observers in Moscow argue that the focus on the confrontation between Israel and Iran could distract global attention from the war in Ukraine and play into Russia’s hands by potentially weakening Western support for Kyiv.

Hmmmm.... And the midterm elections are tight around the corner. I guess it's true that every accusation trump makes turns out to be a confession.

Trump is doing this for Israel and future construction development work for his family.

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/02/28/iran-strikes-congress-lawmakers-trump-00805615

Good job we have a weak ass congress that will do .... nada. Further enabling the wanna be King

Israel is reporting that Iran supreme leader Khomeni is dead-5 min ago

They haven't done squat to claim their own powers to keep trump in check so far. Why would anyone think they're going to suddenly start now?

And let's not pretend we don't know what their main excuse will be. "But this isn't actually a war. It's a military operation." And while we know they'll do anything to make up excuses for trump and will not hold him accountable, trump himself just called it a war.......................

"The lives of courageous American heroes may be lost and we may have casualties, that often happens in war, but we're doing this, not for now. We're doing this for the future, and it is a noble mission."


https://www.reuters.com/world/middl...major-combat-operations-iran-2026-02-28/

It was obliterated. The problem is they didn't hear the message and went back to building capability.

We have been treating Iran with kid gloves for nearly 50 years. None of that has worked. All Presidents since President Carter have tried to negotiate, including President Trump. I don't know if this will work or not, but I do know what we have been doing hasn't worked.

I say it is about time. The leaders in that country are zealots. You can't reason with them. Then it gets to that point you have two choices, allow them to do what they want or harvest them.

Trump did this to distract and get his polls up. Listen to past statements he has accused others of wanting to do this for that reason but they never did.

And Putin has been killing tens of thousands of people in Ukraine for four years and is one of the top two threats to us on the globe along with China while trump is still treating him with kid gloves. Trump preys on the weak in a feeble attempt to look strong. That's what all bullies do.

We were currently holding talks with Iran over a nuclear deal. There was plenty of time to allow that to play out. Stop making excuses.

There is a long list of dictatorships and governments that are despots and slaughter their population. A shorter list but still substantial - countries that fit this description AND support or sponsor terrorist activity.

I said it when Trump illegally usurped the Venezuelan leader - give me a list now of all the countries you want the USA to go in and take military action against ... do it NOW proactively ... I am sick of the justification AFTER Trump has gone in illegally and taken military action against a country and then when Republicans/MAGA/Trump supporter then somehow tries to justify it with these sorts of rationale. . .

Unless you can give me a list of the regime changes, wars and military actions you want the USA to start NOW then this type of post event reaction simply means your drinking the Bannon/Stephen Miller/Trump [censored] and regurgitating it word for word.

Bottomline is the USA and Israel are safer today do to the actions taken yesterday.

So we should attack and conduct a regime change in every nation that would make America safer? If so should we start with Putin?

I mean bottom line and all being considered.

Russia and China are a different level than Iran. These moves made by the US does send a clear message to our enemies. Iran is a ally of Russia and this move definitely sent them a message that the US and the West is not playing any longer and we are strong. No apologies coming from the WH anymore. We are not weak and should not act weak. You have called Trump a bully and he is; the US should be. He is the leader of the free world and some of these countries need to remember our capabilities. Most of the citizens of Iran and the middle east are rejoicing what happened yesterday. Just like the majority of the citizens of Venezuela rejoiced a few months ago. Another enemy of the US Cuba is close to falling after that action. It has been a really good couple month for our country.

Cuba, yet another weak target that is not capable of striking us back. I never actually thought that being a bully by picking on the little kids would be seen as a sign of strength but here we are.

The fact trump is playing bully to the little kids is not and has never scared the big kids. So now we implement regime changes in every "enemy" when it makes their "citizens happy"?

When does honesty factor into any of this? Trump claimed this was about Iran's nuclear weapons program when it is clearly obvious this was about regime change. Something republicans used to be against. You know, regime changes, installing governments and nation building? Only those on the fringe such as war hawks and those involved in the military industrial complex supported such actions because it served their own self interest.

I would just like to remind you that it was Ike who warned us about this. And Ike was also a Republican.

And speaking of Venezuela and honesty. Trump claimed that was to stop the flow of illegal drugs. Do you have any idea what a small fraction of drugs entering the U.S was coming from Venezuela? When you look at the facts about that, that too was a false premise for a regime change.................

Get the Facts: Is Venezuela a primary drug trafficker to the United States?

https://www.kcra.com/article/venezuela-drug-trafficking-cocaine-fentanyl/69676930

Let's face it, trump's goal is to attack and control how nations that are weak and vulnerable run their government's and he will lie about that end game every time.

Picking on the little kids has and will never make the big kids afraid of you. If you take an honest look at it, trump is trying to get Ukraine to reward Putin for attacking them by giving up part of it's country to one of our strongest enemies. That's another thing. Wannabe strong mean actually respect other leaders who they admire and want to be like. Thus the continued leash and support trump gives to Putin.