U.S., Israel Launch Massive Daytime Strike Campaign Against Iran

WASHINGTON/TEL AVIV — The United States and Israel launched a massive joint military campaign against Iran in broad daylight Saturday, targeting senior Iranian leadership and military infrastructure in what officials described as a multi-day operation aimed at regime change.

Strikes began at approximately 3:47 a.m. ET Feb. 28. U.S. officials characterized the opening waves as “decapitation strikes,” with American forces tasked with targeting senior political and military leadership, large surface naval vessels and hardened bunker facilities. Israeli forces focused on military infrastructure including missile launchers and related systems.
President Donald Trump confirmed major combat operations were underway against the Iranian regime and appealed directly to the Iranian people Saturday.

“Take over your government,” Trump said, as strikes continued.

In an eight-minute video address released Saturday, Trump went further, promising full immunity to any Iranian soldiers who lay down their arms and stand down from the regime. The message appeared aimed at fracturing military loyalty to Iranian leadership as strikes entered their opening hours.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu echoed those remarks, telling Iranians that Israel and the Iranian people share a common enemy in the current regime and urging them to rise up against it.

Reza Pahlavi, son of the late Shah and the most prominent figure of Iran’s exiled opposition, also addressed Iranians directly Saturday, calling the moment decisive. Pahlavi described the strikes as the assistance Trump had promised the Iranian people, framing the operation as directed at the Islamic Republic’s apparatus of repression — not the Iranian nation. His family was deposed in the 1979 Islamic Revolution that established the theocratic government now under military assault.

Iran launched between 30 and 70 ballistic missiles toward Israel in response. Israeli air defense systems were actively engaging the incoming projectiles, according to reports at the time of publication. Iran’s retaliatory strikes appeared to extend beyond Israel, with the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet support center in Bahrain reported as a target. Explosions were also reported in Kuwait, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, suggesting Iran may be broadening its counterstrikes against U.S. partner nations across the region. The reports could not be independently verified at the time of publication.

As of this writing, no deaths among principal or senior Iranian leadership have been confirmed. Unconfirmed reports of casualties among senior military commanders have emerged, though they could not be independently verified. Iranian state media and Western news outlets, citing sources close to the matter, reported that Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei remain alive and in a secure location.
Officials indicated the campaign is expected to continue for multiple days.

This is a developing story. Additional details will be reported as they become available.