The United States military launched targeted strikes Saturday against the Islamic Republic of Iran, following the escalation of tensions between the two powers and an apparent breakdown in diplomatic negotiations.
President Donald Trump posted an eight-minute video to Truth Social announcing the “massive and ongoing” attacks, identified as Operation Epic Fury, which are targeting Iran’s military and its nuclear program, as well as to facilitate a change in its government. The president monitored the operation overnight from his Mar-a-lago residence in Florida.
President Donald J. Trump Monitors U.S. Military Operations in Iran: Operation Epic Fury, February 28, 2026 pic.twitter.com/OfnMkmBZ8G
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) February 28, 2026
Vice President JD Vance and Cabinet Secretaries in the Situation Room, February 28, 2026 pic.twitter.com/x3AFYv3fyH
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) February 28, 2026
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) revealed the attack began striking targets including Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps command and control facilities, Iranian air defense capabilities, missile and drone launch sites, and military airfields at 1:15 a.m. EST.
As the President stated, our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime.
The President ordered bold action. CENTCOM forces are delivering an overwhelming and unrelenting blow. pic.twitter.com/B0k5gV4YnU
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) February 28, 2026
The Iranian regime was warned. CENTCOM is now delivering swift and decisive action as directed. pic.twitter.com/nNDoDexH6g
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) March 1, 2026
“The President ordered bold action, and our brave Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, Guardians, and Coast Guardsmen are answering the call,” Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of CENTCOM, said.
The operation, CENTCOM noted, represented the “largest regional concentration of American military firepower in a generation.”
Overnight, on President Trump’s orders, the Department of War commenced OPERATION EPIC FURY — the most lethal, most complex, and most-precision aerial operation in history.
The Iranian regime had their chance, yet refused to make a deal — and now they are suffering the…
— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) February 28, 2026
“Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime, a vicious group of very hard, terrible people,” the commander in chief declared in the video posted Saturday at 2:30 a.m. EST. “Its menacing activities directly endanger the United States, our troops, our bases overseas, and our allies throughout the world.”
“We are going to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground,” Trump vowed. “We are going to annihilate their navy, we are going to ensure that the region’s terrorist proxies can no longer destabilize the region and the world.”
Iran, he claimed, “attempted to rebuild their nuclear program and continue developing long range missiles that can now threaten our very good friends and allies in Europe, our troops stationed overseas and could soon reach our American homeland.”
While it remains unclear if any U.S. troops have been deployed alongside the strikes, Trump warned that “the Iranian regime seeks to kill. The lives of courageous American heroes may be lost and we may have casualties. That often happens in war, but we’re doing this for the future.”
He urged the Iranian military to “lay down your weapons and have complete immunity or, in the alternative, face certain death.”
Trump also offered a message to the Iranian people. “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.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu likewise issued a video announcing his country launched Operation Lion’s Roar, a preemptive “joint operation” with the U.S. against the “existential threat” posed by Iran. The operation would, he said, “create the conditions for the brave Iranian people to take their destiny into their own hands.”
“This murderous terrorist regime must not be allowed to arm itself with nuclear weapons that would enable it to threaten all of humanity,” he stated.
The U.S. ally’s military subsequently announced it “identified missiles launched from Iran toward Israel.” U.S. Embassy staff in Qatar, United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain were instructed to shelter in place. Non-emergency personnel at the U.S. embassy in Israel were authorized Friday to immediately depart the country due to “safety risks.”
CENTCOM stated there were “no reports of U.S. casualties or combat-related injuries.” U.S. facilities were subsequently also only minimally damaged.
The Iranian regime claims to have killed 50 U.S. service members. LIE.
✅There have been no reported U.S. casualties.
✅No U.S. Navy ship has been struck. The Armada is fully operational.
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) February 28, 2026
The Iranian regime claims to have killed 50 U.S. service members. LIE.Trump and Netanyahu spoke over the phone as the attacks unfolded.
“Now is the time to defend the homeland and confront the enemy’s military aggression,” Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs declared in a statement responding to the strikes. “Just as we were ready for negotiations, we have been more prepared than ever for defense. The armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will respond to the aggressors with authority.”
Statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Regarding the military aggression by the Zionist regime and the United States against #IranHeroic and noble people of Iran,
Iranian compatriots,Our sacred and beloved homeland, proud and… https://t.co/kRrzq2SjPk
— Foreign Ministry, Islamic Republic of Iran (@IRIMFA_EN) February 28, 2026
“History testifies that Iranians have never surrendered to foreign aggression and hegemony; this time too, the response of the Iranian nation will be decisive and determining and will make the aggressors regret their criminal act,” the Iranian statement concluded.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, hours before the attack, also announced the U.S. designation of Iran as a “State Sponsor of Wrongful Detention.” In addition, the congressional leadership comprising the “Gang of Eight” were briefed of the attack hours before it began, following a separate Tuesday briefing by Rubio. He was reportedly scheduled to travel to Israel in the next week.
The assault was supported by an armada of American naval and air assets recently amassed within striking distance of their targets. The Navy’s most advanced aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, and its strike group sailed into the Mediterranean Sea, complementing that of carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea. Fourteen destroyers, in addition to dozens of support vessels, fighter jets, unmanned drones, helicopters, and defense systems, further manifested Trump’s Jan. 13 promise on Truth Social to “Iranian Patriots” that “HELP IS ON ITS WAY.”
CENTCOM’s Task Force Scorpion Strike – for the first time in history – is using one-way attack drones in combat during Operation Epic Fury. These low-cost drones, modeled after Iran’s Shahed drones, are now delivering American-made retribution.
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) February 28, 2026
Trump previously hinted at consequences for Iran if the weeks of negotiations in Switzerland — conducted as recent as Thursday — failed to make meaningful progress, remarking at the Feb. 19 convening of the Board of Peace in Washington, “It’s proven to be, over the years, not easy to make a meaningful deal with Iran. Otherwise bad things happen.” That same day, he gave Iran a 10-to-15-day window to compromise with the U.S., a similar deadline to the one he expressed in June 2025 prior to deciding to strike Iranian nuclear facilities after just two days.
The admin officials explained that Midnight hammer obliterated Iran’s nuclear capabilities, but the country had decided to rebuild which the U.S. had warned against.
In short, it sounds like the U.S. made many attempts to compromise and negotiate with Iran, but the country…
— Reagan Reese (@reaganreese_) February 28, 2026
At one point in negotiations, the U.S. offered Iran free nuclear fuel forever, and they turned it down, an official shares. Iran declined because they wanted to enrich.
Iran’s intent was to preserve their enrichment, an official said, the U.S. made many offers to compromise but…
— Reagan Reese (@reaganreese_) February 28, 2026
“We’re going to make a deal or get a deal one way or the other,” Trump said Feb. 18 to a room full of the nation’s governors.
Trump claimed Feb. 20 that 32,000 Iranians had been killed after the regime cracked down on weeks of widespread protests and unrest over the deteriorating national economy. At one point, Trump has claimed, Iran was set to execute over 800 detained dissidents until the president publicly weighed in on their behalf. Iran’s top prosecutor on Jan. 23, however, called Trump’s claim “completely false.”
While Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, admitted Feb. 14 that thousands of Iranians had been killed during chaos, he blamed Trump for having “openly encouraged” the dissidents’ uprising by offering “military support.” He also called Trump a “criminal” responsible “both for the casualties and the damage,” Reuters reported.
The Americans constantly say that they’ve sent a warship toward Iran. Of course, a warship is a dangerous piece of military hardware. However, more dangerous than that warship is the weapon that can send that warship to the bottom of the sea.
— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) February 17, 2026
It was not immediately clear if Khamenei was a casualty of the strikes.
Targeting Iran’s weaponized uranium enrichment capabilities, the June 2025 Operation Midnight Hammer involved seven B-2 stealth bombers flying 37 hours across the world armed with 14 30,000-pound GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators bunker-busting munitions.
Trump has ordered seven military strikes in other nations since returning to the White House in January 2025.
“As president, I will make peace wherever I can, but I will never hesitate to confront threats to America wherever we must,” Trump declared Tuesday night during his State of the Union address. “For decades, it has been the policy of the United States never to allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon. Many decades. Since they seized control of that proud nation 47 years ago, the regime and its murderous proxies have spread nothing but terrorism and death and hate. They’ve killed and maimed thousands of American service members and hundreds of thousands and even millions of people.”
President Trump addressed negotiations with Iran in his State of the Union address: “My preference is to solve this problem through diplomacy, but one thing is certain: I will never allow the world’s number one sponsor of terror … to have a nuclear weapon.” pic.twitter.com/E4cdCnwvvv
— ABC News (@ABC) February 25, 2026
“They want to make a deal, but we haven’t heard those secret words, ‘We will never have a nuclear weapon.’ My preference is to solve this problem through diplomacy,” the president vowed at the time. “But one thing is certain, I will never allow the world’s No. 1 sponsor of terror, which they are by far, to have a nuclear weapon. Can’t let that happen.”
Editor’s Note: This breaking news report was updated with additional information.
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