The US launched a military operation in Iran

The United States has launched a large-scale military operation in Iran, White House President Donald Trump said. He released an eight-minute statement on Truth Social.

“We have launched a major military operation in Iran, we will destroy the threat from the brutal Iranian regime,” the US President said. According to him, the purpose of the attack is to destroy Iran's nuclear and missile programs.

Trump called on the Iranians to “take control of their country” after the military operation ends. He called this chance "probably the only one for many generations." The Pentagon called Operation Epic Fury.

The son of the last Iranian Shah, Reza Pahlavi, also addressed the citizens of the country. He said that the attack by Israel and the United States is a humanitarian intervention that is aimed at the regime operating in the Islamic Republic. At the same time, the final victory, according to Pahlavi, must be won by the people.

The Islamic Republic is preparing to retaliate and it will be “devastating,” an Iranian official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. At 11:12 Moscow time, the Israel Defense Forces announced that it had detected a missile launch from Iran. Soon, at 11:38 Moscow time, a restart was recorded .

Meanwhile, the Iranian agency Tasnim announced the third series of attacks on Israel, and also published a video of a column of smoke, which allegedly rises over Tel Aviv after being hit by an Iranian missile. There is no independent confirmation of this.

A senior Iranian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Al Jazeera that Tehran considers all sites in the region linked to Israel and the United States to be legitimate military targets. According to a Qatari television channel, Iran launched missile attacks on American bases in Bahrain , Kuwait and the UAE . Explosions also occurred in the Saudi capital Riyadh, AFP reported. Against this backdrop, the Gulf countries closed their airspace.

The Iranian Fars agency confirmed that Tehran launched missile attacks on American bases in the region. The targets were said to be Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait and Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates, as well as the headquarters of the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain.

The attack on Iran began at 8:10 am local time (8:40 Moscow time), The New York Times reports. Explosions occurred in Tehran and other Iranian cities, shortly after which the head of the Israeli Defense Ministry, Israel Katz, announced a “preemptive strike” against the Islamic Republic.

The operation will last at least several days, writes NYT. The interlocutors of The Times of Israel and The Wall Street Journal stated the same. According to the latter, the United States is striking Iran with Tomahawk missiles launched from the sea, as well as warheads launched from the air. The targets are said to include key figures in the Iranian regime. “President Trump left no doubt in his video that the goal is regime change,” the NYT noted .

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an address to the nation that his country is working with the United States to address the "existential threat" posed by Iran. He called the operation "Roar of the Lion" and said it would last several days.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei likely did not survive the Israeli and US strikes, an anonymous senior official told Israel's Channel 12. “I will fall off my chair if Khamenei speaks live. According to preliminary estimates, he is no longer with us, but we are waiting for final confirmation,” the journalists’ interlocutor noted.

At the same time, a Reuters source previously reported that the Supreme Leader of Iran was not in Tehran at the time of the attack - he was taken to a safe place.

According to The Times of Israel, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Mohammad Pakpour, Iranian Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh and intelligence chief Saleh Assadi could also be killed as a result of the strikes.

Iran denies these claims. As Al Jazeera reports , citing government sources, the authorities of the Islamic Republic were not harmed. The fact that Khamenei, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, as well as other high-ranking officials are alive, Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic Abbas Araghchi told NBC News.

The Russian Foreign Ministry called the military operation of the United States and Israel “a pre-planned and unprovoked act of armed aggression.”

“The intentions of the aggressors are clear and they declare it quite openly - to destroy the constitutional order and destroy the leadership of a state they dislike, which refused to submit to forceful dictatorship and hegemony,” the diplomatic department said in a statement.

Russia called for “immediately returning the situation around Iran to the mainstream of a political and diplomatic settlement,” and also stated that it was “ready to assist in the search for peaceful solutions based on international law and a balance of interests around Iran.”

Due to US and Israeli strikes on Iran and retaliatory attacks by the Islamic Republic on American military bases in the region, a number of Gulf countries have closed their airspace. Airlines have also begun canceling scheduled flights to Israel, the UAE and other countries in the region, the BBC notes .

Thus, Qatar Airways has suspended flights to and from its hub in Doha due to the closure of Qatari airspace, and Emirates will temporarily not fly to and from Dubai. Turkish Airlines has canceled flights scheduled for February 28 to Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, the UAE and Oman, and has also suspended flights to Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iraq and Jordan until March 2.

WizzAir will not fly to Israel, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Amman until March 7. Lufthansa has suspended flights to Tel Aviv, Beirut and Oman for a week. The airline will also have no flights to Dubai this weekend.

Air France canceled flights to Tel Aviv and Beirut; KLM - to Tel Aviv. British Airways will not fly to Tel Aviv and Bahrain until March 3. Swiss Air has suspended flights to Tel Aviv until March 7, and to Dubai this weekend.

Virgin Atlantic has canceled its flight from London to Dubai scheduled for February 28. Japan Airlines - flight to Doha, Iberia Express - flight to Tel Aviv. Air India has suspended flights to all airports in the Middle East. The airline had flights to Tel Aviv, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Photo: @realDonaldTrump / X