US, Israel strike Iran; Tehran retaliates as region braces for escalation

2026-02-28 - 18:17

Tehran, Iran – The United States and Israel launched coordinated strikes on Iran on Saturday, triggering Iranian retaliation and raising fears of a wider regional conflict. Large explosions were reported in Tehran and several other cities, with smoke seen rising from a district that includes the presidential compound. Iranian authorities said the country’s armed forces responded by targeting Israel and US military assets in the region. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said Israeli and US military targets had been struck ‘by the powerful blows of Iranian missiles’, adding that operations would continue ‘relentlessly’. Attacks were reported on bases hosting US troops across the region, with explosions and missile interceptions reported in Qatar, the UAE, Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait. US President Donald Trump said the joint strikes aimed to eliminate “imminent threats from the Iranian regime”. “Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating threats from the Iranian regime. We are going to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground,” he said. He added, “We will ensure that Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon... They will never have a nuclear weapon.” Israel’s military said it had struck ‘hundreds of Iranian military targets’, including missile launchers, in western Iran. It said its air force was intercepting incoming Iranian missiles. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said, “(Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu and Trump’s war on Iran is wholly unprovoked, illegal and illegitimate,” adding that Iran’s armed forces were prepared and would “teach the aggressors the lesson they deserve”. Deputy Foreign Minister Hamid Ghanbari said the timing of the strikes, during a new round of nuclear talks, was “deeply troubling” and “breaks trust and raises serious doubt about the commitment to a peaceful solution”. He said Iran reserved the right to defend itself and expressed regret over humanitarian losses. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, condemned the attacks and urged restraint. “I deplore the military strikes across Iran this morning by Israel and the United States of America, and the subsequent retaliatory strikes by Iran,” he said in a statement. “As always, in any armed conflict, it is civilians who end up paying the ultimate price.” Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency reported that senior officials, including President Masoud Pezeshkian, parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and security chief Ali Larijani, were “in perfect health”, dismissing Israeli claims they had been targeted. 85 killed in Israeli attack on Iran school Separately, the state news agency IRNA said at least 85 people were killed in an Israeli strike on a girls’ elementary school in the southern city of Minab. A local official said 170 students had been inside at the time of the attack, warning the toll could rise as rescue operations continued. Eighty-five people were killed in an Israeli strike on a girls’ school in the southern city of Minab The developments mark one of the most serious direct confrontations between the US, Israel and Iran in recent years, with diplomatic efforts now in jeopardy and regional security on edge. Iran targets US assets in Arab states Iran targeted United States assets across the Gulf Arab states in retaliation for a huge joint attack on it by the US and Israel, as the region’s worst fears of being ignited in the flames of a sustained war loom. The Iranian government on Saturday confirmed its attacks on several targets, according to the Fars news agency, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, where US airbases are hosted. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed all Israeli and US military targets in the Middle East have been struck ‘by the powerful blows of Iranian missiles’. ‘This operation will continue relentlessly until the enemy is decisively defeated,’ it said. All US assets throughout the region are considered legitimate targets for Iran’s army,’ it added. At least one person was killed in Abu Dhabi, the UAE capital, after several missiles launched from Iran were intercepted, according to the country’s state news agency WAM. The UAE defence ministry said an Asian national was killed after the debris fell on a residential area of Abu Dhabi. Bahrain said a missile attack targeted the headquarters of the US Navy’s 5th Fleet, which it hosts. The government called it a ‘treacherous attack’ and ‘a blatant violation of the kingdom’s sovereignty and security’. Kuwait’s Defence Ministry said the Ali Al Salem Air Base came under attack by a number of ballistic missiles, all of which were intercepted by Kuwaiti air defence systems. In Qatar, the Defence Ministry said it thwarted several attacks on the country. ‘The ministry confirms that the threat was dealt with immediately upon detection, in accordance with the pre-approved security plan, and that all missiles were intercepted before reaching Qatari territory.’