The U.S. and Israel attacked Iran overnight Feb. 28 with aircraft and Tomahawk cruise missiles, a U.S. official told Air & Space Forces Magazine.
President Donald Trump said the campaign was “massive and ongoing” in a late-night address posted on his social media site, Truth Social. Unlike recent actions like Operation Midnight Hammer in Iran or Absolute Resolve in Venezuela, Trump suggested this would be an ongoing campaign lasting days or possibly weeks.
“We are going to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground,” Trump said.
The U.S. mission against Iran is called “Operation Epic Fury.”
The Israeli Air Force said in a statement that its aircraft “struck hundreds of military targets, including [missile] launchers.” It posted a video of its F-35s and F-15s taking off to launch the attacks.
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, the semi-official Iranian Fars news agency reported. Jordan, which hosts a key U.S. air base, was also attacked, the state-run news agency said. The governments of those countries said they successfully intercepted many of those missiles.
Naval Support Activity Bahrain was impacted by a missile, 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 is stationed at Ali Al Salem, said the base was struck by missiles, and there was “significant damage to the runway.”
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 three waves of Iranian missile attacks. Kata’ib Hezbollah, an Iranian-aligned militia in Iraq, said it would attack U.S. assets in response. 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.
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.”
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-16s 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 Arabraham Lincoln, both of which carry F-35Cs, 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.”
Iran promised its own vengeful response. “We will teach Israel and America a lesson they have never experienced in their history,” Fars quoted an official as saying. But more than the U.S. and Israel, the official said the 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.”