Israel and US launch attacks on Iran, seeking to topple its leaders
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WASHINGTON/DUBAI/CAIRO – The United States and Israel carried out military strikes on Iran on Feb 28, targeting its top leaders and plunging the Middle East into a conflict that President Donald Trump said would end a security threat to the US and give Iranians a chance to topple their rulers.
Tehran called the attacks unprovoked and illegal, and responded by launching missiles at Israel and at several Gulf Arab allies of the US that host American bases.
It promised a stronger response to come, with senior Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander Ebrahim Jabbari saying it had so far used only “scrap missiles” and would soon unveil unforeseen weapons, state television reported.
Iran’s Defence Minister Amir Nasirzadeh and Revolutionary Guards commander Mohammed Pakpour were killed in Israeli attacks, three sources familiar with the matter said.
Explosions rang out in nearby oil-producing Gulf Arab countries, which said they had intercepted missiles, after Tehran warned it would strike the region if it was attacked.
The first wave of strikes in what the Pentagon named “Operation Epic Fury” mainly targeted Iranian officials, a source familiar with the matter said, two days after indirect talks mediated by Oman failed to produce a breakthrough on Iran’s nuclear programme.
An Israeli official said Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian were both targeted, but the result of the strikes was not clear. A source with knowledge of the matter had earlier told Reuters that Ayatollah Khamenei was not in Tehran and had been transferred to a secure location.
An Iranian source close to the establishment said several senior commanders of the Revolutionary Guards and political officials had been killed. Forty people were killed in an Israeli air strike on a school, state media said. Reuters could not independently confirm the reports.
Trump warns ‘bombs will be dropping everywhere’
In a video message published on social media,
Mr Trump, who had deployed vast US military firepower in the region saying he hoped to force Iranian concessions in nuclear talks, said the “massive” operation was intended to ensure Tehran does not obtain a nuclear weapon and was aimed at “eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime”.
He urged Iranians to stay sheltered because “bombs will be dropping everywhere”. But he added: “When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will be probably your only chance for generations.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the joint US-Israeli attack “will create the conditions for the brave Iranian people to take their destiny into their own hands” and “remove the yoke of tyranny”. Defence Minister Israel Katz called it a pre-emptive strike to remove threats to Israel.
Iran’s clerical leaders were already in a difficult position after mass anti-government demonstrations in January, which led to a crackdown in which thousands of people were killed, the worst domestic unrest since the era of the 1979 revolution. Protesters had again taken to the streets in recent days in remembrance of those killed the previous month.
Israeli military operations have killed some of Iran’s senior military officials and severely weakened several of Tehran’s once-feared proxy forces across the Middle East.
A smoke plume rises over Abu Dhabi from the site of an Iranian missile strike on Feb 28.
PHOTO: AFP
After Israel pounded Iran in a 12-day air war
An Israeli defence official said the operation had been planned for months in coordination with Washington, and that the launch date was decided weeks ago.
Israel’s military said its air force had identified Iranian operatives in western Iran loading a missile unit and preparing to launch an attack. The air force struck the operatives and the launcher, preventing the attack, it said.
US air defences intercepted and shot down a drone over a US military base near Erbil in Iraq.
Missiles fired at Arab Gulf states
The renewed confrontation dimmed hopes of a diplomatic solution to Tehran’s nuclear dispute with the West.
Oil markets have been closely watching the stand-off between Washington and Tehran to try and determine if supplies will be impacted. “If we don’t see signs of de-escalation over the weekend, risk premiums could still drive Brent up” by US$10 to US$20 per barrel when markets reopen on March 2, said head of geopolitical analysis at Rystad Energy Jorge Leon. Iran, the third largest producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, pumps about 4.5 per cent of global oil supplies, and a far larger share is shipped past its coast through the strait leading out of the Gulf.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said all US bases and interests in the region were within Iran’s reach and retaliation would continue until “the enemy is decisively defeated”. Iraq’s Iran-aligned armed group Kataib Hezbollah said it would soon attack US bases in the region.
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman called United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to discuss the Iranian attacks on countries in the region and expressed solidarity, the UAE state news agency said.
Loud booms sounded in Abu Dhabi, capital of the UAE, an oil producer and close US ally, and several blasts were heard in the business capital Dubai.
Bahrain said the service centre of the US Fifth Fleet – base for American naval forces in the region – had been subjected to a missile attack. Video footage showed a thick grey plume of smoke rising from near the island state’s coastline as sirens wailed. Qatar said it had downed all missiles targeting the country and that it had the right to respond. Kuwait confirmed a missile attack on a US military base there.
A spokesperson for Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said: “Singapore regrets the failure of negotiations that has resulted in strikes by the US and Israel on Iran, and retaliatory strikes by Iran on Bahrain, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
“Singapore urges all parties to return to negotiations to achieve a peaceful resolution in accordance with international law and the principles of the UN Charter.”
MFA also advised Singaporeans to defer all travel to Israel, Iran and the Middle East region, in view of the volatile security situation and disruptions to flights to the region. REUTERS
