{"id":201901,"date":"2026-02-28T20:19:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T20:19:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/u-s-and-israel-attack-iran-as-trump-urges-iranians-to-take-over-the-government-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2026-02-28T20:19:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T20:19:15","slug":"u-s-and-israel-attack-iran-as-trump-urges-iranians-to-take-over-the-government-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/u-s-and-israel-attack-iran-as-trump-urges-iranians-to-take-over-the-government-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. and Israel attack Iran as Trump urges Iranians to 'take over' the government – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The long-simmering threat of conflict between Washington, Jerusalem and Tehran erupted Saturday morning as the United States and Israel launched sweeping airstrikes against Iran\u2019s military and political leadership.
\u201cOperation Epic Fury,\u201d a culmination of months of heated rhetoric, followed repeated warnings from President Donald Trump about military intervention in Iran, and a steady surge of U.S. forces into the Gulf.
Tehran retaliated by firing missiles at Israel and at U.S. bases in several countries across the region, while officials, aid groups, and world leaders warned the confrontation could spill beyond its initial targets, drawing in more countries and destabilize a region already on the edge.
In a video statement early Saturday, Trump announced \u201cmajor combat operations\u201d against Iran, just two days after the latest round of talks with Tehran<\/a> aimed at reaching an agreement to curtail Iran\u2019s nuclear program.
\u201cWe sought repeatedly to make a deal,\u201d Trump said in a statement released on Truth Social. \u201cWe tried.\u201d
Iran\u2019s Supreme National Security Council vowed in a statement that its armed forces will give a \u201ccrushing response\u201d to the U.S. and Israeli attacks, as multiple U.S. allies in the region intercepted missiles targeting U.S. bases on their territory.
Follow live updates here.<\/strong><\/em><\/a>
Iran is attacking military facilities and not \u201cAmericans in their land,\u201d Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in an interview with NBC News, adding that Tehran was interested in de-escalation and ready to talk once the joint U.S.-Israeli strikes end.
Iran\u2019s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is still alive \u201cas far as I know,\u201d Araghchi said, after the U.S. and Israeli strikes targeted key Iranian leaders as well as the country\u2019s ballistic missile and nuclear programs.
Meanwhile, more than 200 people were killed and some 747 people have been injured in the attacks on Iran, a spokesperson for the Red Crescent Society said in an interview<\/a> with the Iranian Students\u2019 News Agency.
\u201cTwenty-four provinces across the country have been struck,” Mojtaba Khaledi said.
The United Nations Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting for 4 p.m. ET Saturday to address the unfolding crisis.
Earlier, U.N. Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres condemned the \u201cmilitary escalation in the Middle East.\u201d
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in an address to the nation, told his countrymen to “be resilient and strong.” And he urged the Iranian people, who since December have been protesting<\/a> against the Islamic regime, to use this moment to finally oust the ayatollahs.
“This is an opportunity, do something. Do not sit with your arms crossed,” he said. “You have to complete this work and you have to bring down and eradicate this regime.”
Netanyahu\u2019s office said earlier that the prime minister and Trump spoke after launching the initial attacks and released a photograph of Netanyahu on the phone.
The White House also confirmed the call, noting that Trump monitored the situation overnight from Mar-a-Lago.
Vice President JD Vance dialed into a conference line with Trump from the Situation Room in Washington, where he was joined by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and Energy Secretary Chris Wright, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Before the attacks, Secretary of State Marco Rubio attempted to contact a group of influential congressional leaders known as the \u201cGang of Eight\u201d to <\/strong>give them a heads up. He was able to reach seven of the eight members.
\u201cI implored him to be straight with Congress and the American people about the objectives of these strikes and what comes next,\u201d Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement. \u201cIran must never be allowed to attain a nuclear weapon but the American people do not want another endless and costly war in the Middle East when there are so many problems at home.\u201d
Republicans have largely far expressed support for the attacks, but Democrats along with Rep. Thomas Massie and Sen. Rand Paul, both Kentucky Republicans, have expressed dismay<\/a> that Trump had carried out the strikes without first seeking congressional authorization. Some members have vowed to force a war powers resolution vote to limit Trump’s ability to carry out further attacks on Iran.
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a member of the Gang of Eight, said the Trump administration had \u201cmore than fulfilled its responsibilities\u201d to notify Congress of the Iran strikes.
“The objective here is fairly clear,” he told Fox News. “It\u2019s to, once again, put an end to Iran\u2019s nuclear ambitions.”
Trump administration officials plan to brief lawmakers Sunday on the military attack, including members of the Senate and House intelligence, armed services and foreign affairs committees, according to two sources with knowledge of the matter.
Earlier, the constant sound of explosions was heard in Tehran, according to an NBC News producer on the ground. Iran announced it was closing <\/strong>its airspace and video from the country\u2019s semiofficial news agency Tasnim showed smoke rising above the buildings.
\u201cOur objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime,\u201d Trump said in an eight-minute video message shared on Truth Social<\/a>.
\u201cBombs will be dropping everywhere,\u201d he added, addressing Iranians directly. \u201cWhen we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take.\u201d
The administration was taking \u201cevery possible step\u201d to minimize the risk to U.S. personnel, Trump added, but he warned that the lives of \u201ccourageous American heroes may be lost and we may have casualties.\u201d
\u201cThat often happens in war,\u201d he added.
Two U.S. officials told NBC News that Israel had targeted Iranian leaders while the U.S. <\/strong>went after Iran\u2019s ballistic missile and nuclear programs.
At least one person was killed by falling debris after an Iranian strike on Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates announced Saturday.
Other U.S. allies in the region, including Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan, also reported Iranian missile attacks on their territory.
Iran\u2019s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on state television that it had targeted \u201cthe headquarters of the U.S. Navy\u2019s Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, other U.S. bases in Qatar and the UAE, as well as military and security centers.\u201d
There were no reported American casualties from Iran\u2019s retaliatory strikes, two U.S. officials told NBC News on Saturday morning.
The officials conceded there was some damage to infrastructure in Bahrain after Iran struck the Fifth Fleet. But it was not immediately clear if the damage was on or off the base.
A military source in the General Command of the Jordanian Armed Forces told NBC News that two Iranian ballistic missiles had been shot down, while Qatar\u2019s Ministry of Defense said it had intercepted a third wave of attacks. The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem told government employees and their families to shelter in place until further notice.
Iran had vowed before the strikes that it would retaliate against any attack. It threatened to target Israel as well as American bases in the region.
Dozens of people were killed and scores more injured in an Israeli strike on a school in Iran\u2019s southern county of Minab, the semiofficial Iranian news agency Mehr news reported Saturday.
The Israeli military\u2019s situation room said it was looking into the reports of fatalities at the school. NBC News was not immediately able to confirm reports of the strike or the associated death toll.
Middle Eastern nations, including the U.S. ally Egypt, have warned that attacks could spark further conflicts in a region still reeling from the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.
Mirjana Spoljaric Egger, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, said military escalation was \u201cigniting a dangerous chain reaction across the region, with potentially devastating consequences for civilians.\u201d
\u201cHumanitarian aid cannot match the pace or scale of suffering caused by continuous conflict,\u201d she added.
Oman\u2019s Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi, a key go-between in talks between the U.S. and Iran, said he was \u201cdismayed\u201d that \u201cactive and serious negotiations\u201d had \u201cyet again been undermined.\u201d
\u201cNeither the interests of the United States nor the cause of global peace are well served by this,\u201d al-Busaidi said in a post on X, urging Washington not to \u201cget sucked in further.\u201d
Trump raised the prospect of an attack on Iran after authorities cracked down on huge nationwide demonstrations<\/a>, which erupted in December and January over the country\u2019s ailing economy but morphed into demands for the overthrow of the clerical regime.
The regime ended up crushing the protests, killing thousands and arresting tens of thousands more<\/a> in the weeks afterward.
Trump then threatened a military attack if a deal could not be reached with Tehran over its nuclear program \u2014 the same nuclear program the president initially claimed U.S. strikes \u201cobliterated\u201d <\/a>in June.
A later U.S. assessment<\/a> found these only destroyed one of three sites targeted.
There is still no publicly available evidence that Iran has made major progress in reviving its damaged nuclear program, including whether it has resumed significant uranium enrichment. The Trump administration has not specifically accused Iran of renewing uranium enrichment work.
Iran, which has always insisted that it has not pursued nuclear weapons, resisted demands that it halt uranium enrichment or expand talks to include its ballistic missile program and support for proxy forces across the Middle East.
Alexander Smith is a senior reporter for\u00a0NBC News Digital based in London.
Freddie Clayton is a freelance journalist based in London.\u00a0
Courtney Kube is a correspondent covering national security and the military for the NBC News Investigative Unit.
© 2026 NBCUniversal Media, LLC<\/p>\n

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news AlertsThere are no new alerts at this timeThe long-simmering threat of conflict between Washington, Jerusalem and Tehran erupted Saturday morning as the United States and Israel launched sweeping airstrikes against Iran\u2019s military and political leadership.\u201cOperation Epic Fury,\u201d a culmination of months of heated rhetoric, followed repeated warnings from President Donald Trump about military intervention […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":201902,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-201901","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201901","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=201901"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201901\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/201902"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=201901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=201901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}