{"id":7222,"date":"2026-02-28T07:24:56","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T07:24:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=7222"},"modified":"2026-02-28T07:24:56","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T07:24:56","slug":"united-states-israel-commence-strikes-against-iran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=7222","title":{"rendered":"United States, Israel commence strikes against Iran"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dawn.com\/large\/2026\/02\/281148171eb32e3.webp\" \/><\/p>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\n<p>Israel and the United States have launched a \u201cpre-emptive attack\u201d against Iran, pushing the Middle East into a renewed military confrontation and further dimming hopes for a diplomatic solution to Tehran\u2019s long-running dispute with the West.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p><strong>What we know so far:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Israel launched a pre-emptive attack on Iran<\/li>\n<li>US strikes on Iran reportedly underway, according to a US official<\/li>\n<li>Explosions and smoke observed in Tehran, suggesting a missile attack<\/li>\n<li>Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader Khamenei moved to a secure location for safety<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr\/>\n<p>\u201cThe State of Israel launched a pre-emptive attack against Iran to remove threats to the State of Israel,\u201d Defence Minister Israel Katz said.<\/p>\n<p>Katz has \u201cdeclared a special and immediate state of emergency throughout the country\u201d, read a statement from his ministry.<\/p>\n<p>The <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"link--external\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/live\/2026\/02\/28\/world\/iran-strikes-trump\/c954c0a9-28cf-5238-9219-80b016e35130?smid=url-share\"><em>New York Times<\/em><\/a>, citing a US official, reported that US strikes on Iran were underway as well. An Israeli defence official also told <em>Reuters<\/em> that the operation was being carried out in coordination with the US.<\/p>\n<p>The attack, coming after Israel and Iran <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1916899\/tel-aviv-in-smoke-as-iran-launches-missiles-under-operation-true-promise-3-after-day-long-israeli-attacks\">engaged<\/a> in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/live\/israel-iran-conflict\">12-day air war<\/a> in June, follows repeated US-Israeli <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1974344\/white-house-tells-iran-to-do-deal-as-trump-hints-at-us-strikes\">warnings<\/a> that they would strike again if Iran pressed ahead with its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media  w-full  w-full  media--left    media--uneven  media--stretch\" data-original-src=\"https:\/\/x.com\/PakTVGlobal\/status\/2027641627569799288\">\n<\/figure>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>Explosions were heard in Tehran, Iranian media reported.<\/p>\n<p>Two loud blasts were heard in Tehran by <em>AFP<\/em> journalists, and two plumes of thick smoke were seen over the centre and east of the Iranian capital.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe type of explosions suggests that this is a missile attack,\u201d the <em>Fars news agency<\/em> reported, without immediately providing further details.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, an official confirmed to <em>Reuters<\/em> that Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader Khamenei was not in Tehran and had been transferred to a secure location.<\/p>\n<p>Following the attack, Israel closed its airspace to civilian flights, their defence ministry said.<\/p>\n<p>Iraq\u2019s transport ministry also said it closed the national airspace after Israel\u2019s attack on Iran, <em>Reuters<\/em> quoted the state news agency as saying.<\/p>\n<h2><a id=\"renewed-talks\" href=\"#renewed-talks\" class=\"heading-permalink\" aria-hidden=\"true\" title=\"Permalink\"\/>Renewed talks<\/h2>\n<p>The US and Iran renewed negotiations in February in a bid to resolve the decades-long dispute through diplomacy and avert the threat of a military confrontation that could destabilise the region.<\/p>\n<p>Israel, however, insisted that any US deal with Iran must include the dismantling of Tehran\u2019s nuclear infrastructure, not just stopping the enrichment process, and lobbied Washington to include restrictions on Iran\u2019s missile programme in the talks.<\/p>\n<p>Iran said it was prepared to discuss curbs on its nuclear programme in exchange for lifting sanctions, but ruled out linking the issue to missiles.<\/p>\n<p>Tehran also said it would defend itself against any attack.<\/p>\n<p>It warned neighbouring countries hosting US troops that it would retaliate against American bases if Washington struck Iran.<\/p>\n<p>In June, the US joined an Israeli military campaign against Iranian nuclear installations, in the most direct American military action ever against the Islamic Republic.<\/p>\n<p>Tehran retaliated by launching missiles toward the US Al Udeid air base in Qatar, the largest in the Middle East.<\/p>\n<p>Western powers have warned that Iran\u2019s ballistic missile project threatens regional stability and could deliver nuclear weapons if developed. Tehran denies seeking atomic bombs.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p><em>This is a developing story that is being updated as the situation evolves. Initial reports in the media can sometimes be inaccurate. We will strive to ensure timeliness and accuracy by relying on credible sources, such as concerned, qualified authorities and our staff reporters.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1976377\/united-states-israel-commence-strikes-against-iran\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Israel and the United States have launched a \u201cpre-emptive attack\u201d against Iran, pushing the Middle East into a renewed military confrontation and further dimming hopes for&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7223,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertaonment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7222"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7222\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7223"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}