The U.S. and Israel attacked hundreds of targets in Iran on Feb. 28 with aircraft and Tomahawk cruise missiles, U.S. officials told Air & Space Forces Magazine.
President Donald Trump said the campaign was “massive and ongoing” in a late-night address posted on social media. Unlike recent actions like Operation Midnight Hammer in Iran or Operations Absolute Resolve in Venezuela, Trump suggested this would be an ongoing campaign lasting days or possibly weeks. The U.S. mission against Iran is called Operation Epic Fury.
“We are going to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground,” Trump said.
Trump promised a thorough campaign. “We’re going to annihilate their Navy,” he said. “We are going to ensure that the region’s terrorist proxies can no longer destabilize the region or the world and attack our forces and no longer use their IEDs or roadside bombs, as they are sometimes called, to so gravely wound and kill thousands and thousands of people, including many Americans. And we will ensure that Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon. It’s a very simple message.”
U.S. officials confirmed to Air & Space Forces Magazine that the scope of the campaign is broad. The U.S. military is focusing on high-value targets, the officials said, including underground facilities that the U.S. believes are associated with Iran’s nuclear program, key Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targets, and naval facilities.
U.S. aircraft launched from air bases across the region, and at least one of two U.S. aircraft carriers deployed nearby. Navy ships launched Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles in the first wave of attacks. The U.S. also used one-way attack drones in the operation, a U.S. official said.
The operation is expected to continue for multiple days, U.S. officials said.
Trump called on the Iranian people to rise up against the country’s authoritarian regime.
“It will be yours to take,” Trump said, addressing the Iranian public. “This will be probably your only chance for generations.”
The Israeli Air Force said that 200 of its fighter jets participated in the initial wave attacks and hit 500 targets, the largest airstrikes in its history. It also posted a video of its F-35s and F-15s taking off to launch the attacks.
A U.S. official said the U.S. has largely suppressed Iran’s air defenses, which were already weakened after last year’s strikes by Israel and the U.S. The Israeli Air Force said it had expanded its “aerial superiority” over Iran.
Fox News first reported the use of one-way attack drones and some details of the U.S. targets.
Iran retaliated by attacking U.S. military bases in the region, including Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar; Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait; Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates; and Naval Support Activity Bahrain, Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corps said. Muwaffaq Al Salti Air Base in Jordan was also attacked, according to Iranian state media. The governments of those countries said they successfully intercepted many of those missiles and condemned Iran’s response.
Naval Support Activity Bahrain was impacted by at least one missile and an attack drone, multiple videos circulating on social media show. A U.S. official said the Iranian response was an active situation, and they could not offer an assessment of the possible damage to any facilities. The Italian Air Force, which also uses Ali Al Salem Air Base, said that the Kuwaiti base was also struck by missiles, and there was “significant damage to the runway” there, though there were no fatalities.
Trump acknowledged the risk to U.S. personnel. “My administration has taken every possible step to minimize the risk to U.S. personnel in the region,” Trump said. “The lives of courageous American heroes may be lost, and we may have casualties.”
A civilian in the UAE capital of Abu Dhabi was killed as a result of falling debris from missile interceptors. Qatar, which hosts the forward headquarters of U.S. Central Command and the regional Combined Air Operations Center, has already been subjected to multiple waves of Iranian missile attacks. Kata’ib Hezbollah, an Iranian-aligned militia in Iraq, said it would attack U.S. assets in response.
The U.S. buildup in the region includes dozens of Air Force fighters—F-35 Lightning II multirole stealth fighters, air superiority F-22 Raptors, and multirole F-15E Strike Eagles and F-16 Fighting Falcons, as well as A-10 Thunderbolt II attack planes. The U.S. Navy has two aircraft carriers in the region, the USS Gerald R. Ford and the USS Abraham Lincoln, which carry F-35C and F/A-18 fighters and EA-18 electronic attack planes.
The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement on social media that “the IDF and the U.S Armed Forces have launched a broad & joint operation to thoroughly degrade the Iranian terrorist regime and to remove existential threats to Israel over time.” Israel called its campaign Operation Roaring Lion.
Trump “monitored the situation overnight” at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida alongside “members of his national security team,” White House Press Secretary Karolina Leavitt said. Trump also spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force Gen. Dan Caine was among those with Trump at Mar-a-Lago overnight, a U.S. official told Air & Space Forces Magazine.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio notified seven members of the so-called Gang of Eight, which comprises the Republican and Democratic leaders of the House and Senate and the chairmen and ranking members of the congressional intelligence committees. The Department of Defense notified the Senate and House Armed Services Committees after the strikes were underway, a U.S. official said.
Iran promised its own response. “We will teach Israel and America a lesson they have never experienced in their history,” the semi-official Fars news agency quoted an official as saying. But more than the U.S. and Israel, the official said that Iran’s response will be seen across the region. “Any base that helps America and Israel will be the target of the Iranian armed forces.”