{"id":201905,"date":"2026-02-28T20:53:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T20:53:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/iran-hit-by-massive-us-attack-supreme-leader-targeted-updates-usa-today\/"},"modified":"2026-02-28T20:53:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T20:53:10","slug":"iran-hit-by-massive-us-attack-supreme-leader-targeted-updates-usa-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/iran-hit-by-massive-us-attack-supreme-leader-targeted-updates-usa-today\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran hit by 'massive' US attack; supreme leader targeted: Updates – USA Today"},"content":{"rendered":"

The United States launched military strikes<\/a> and “major combat operations” against Iran on Saturday, President Donald Trump<\/a> said, targeting the country’s missile capabilities.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the joint strikes with Israel on Iran, an Israeli source confirmed to USA TODAY. Reuters and CNN also reported that Khamenei had been killed during the operation.
“Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime, a vicious group of very hard, terrible people,” Trump said, calling the strikes “a massive and ongoing operation<\/a>.”
Iran launched retaliatory drone and missile strikes against American and Israeli targets after the joint U.S.-Israeli attack, hitting a U.S. Navy base in Bahrain. Iran said its enemies would be “decisively defeated,” but no American service members were wounded or killed in the attacks.
Images from Tehran early Saturday showed smoke rising from the Iranian capital as residents ran for cover. Iran said at least 40 people were killed in a strike at a girl’s school in the south.
The conflict follows weeks of rising tensions as Trump repeatedly threatened to attack Iran if negotiations over its nuclear and missile development programs fail.
This is a breaking story. Follow along with USA TODAY’s live coverage.<\/em>
Bart Jansen
Before the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran, the Central Intelligence Agency assessed that even if Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed, he could be replaced by hardline figures from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Reuters reported based on two sources.
Khamenei was killed in the airstrikes Feb. 28, Israeli sources told USA TODAY, CNN and Reuters.
The CIA\u2019s assessments, which were produced over the past two weeks, looked broadly at what could happen after a military attack.
Trump has signaled for weeks he sought regime change and he encouraged the Iranian people to take over the government.
Francesca Chambers
A senior U.S. official said that the Trump administration had indicators when Secretary of State Marco Rubio briefed top lawmakers that Iran could take preemptive action and President Trump determined he was not going to sit back and allow American forces in the region to absorb missile attacks.
The official said the United States had an analysis telling them American casualties and damage would be substantially higher if Iran struck first than if the Trump administration acted preemptively.
Iran also refused to even discuss its ballistic missile program inside or outside of mediated talks with the United States, and that was unacceptable to the Trump administration, the official said. The senior administration official who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity argued that Trump had no choice but to conduct airstrikes.
Another official said that the United States had intelligence showing Iran was in the throes of rebuilding three nuclear sites that America bombed last summer.
The Trump administration officials said that they determined in the course of talks that Iran was seeking to preserve its ability to enrich uranium so that over time they could use it to make a nuclear bomb. Iran has said it seeks to use enriched uranium for civilian purposes, but the U.S. official said the administration has offered other ways to do so that Iran has rejected.
Negotiators were met with games, tricks and stall tactics, the U.S. official said. While President Trump could have made a short-term deal, it wouldn’t have dealt with the long-term issues at hand, the official said.
Mike Snider and Kim Hjelmgaard
Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed by the U.S. and Israeli airstrikes Saturday, Israeli sources told USA TODAY, CNN and Reuters.
Khamenei was specifically targeted in the attack, a Middle Eastern source familliar with the matter previously told USA TODAY. Also targeted: the country’s missile capabilities.
Khamenei, 86, had led Iran since 1989. He previously served as the president from 1981 to 1989.\u00a0He was a close ally of Iran’s first supreme leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who led the country’s 1979 revolution that overthrew the government and founded Iran’s Islamic Republic.
Earlier in the day, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi had told NBC News<\/a> Khamenei was still alive \u201cas far as I know.\u201d
Official estimates of fatalities and injuries haven’t been confirmed by American or international authorities yet.
Reuters reported on Saturday that 201 people were killed and 747 were wounded in the attacks across 24 provinces, according to Iranian media that cited Red Crescent, a humanitarian group working in the region.
Jeanine Santucci
President Trump in a Saturday interview with Axios<\/a> described “off ramps” for the U.S. military operation in Iran and said it would take several years for Iran to “recover” from the strike.
“I can go long and take over the whole thing, or end it in two or three days and tell the Iranians: ‘See you again in a few years if you start rebuilding [your nuclear and missile programs],” Trump told Axios.
Trump told the outlet that two factors sparked the attack: failed negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program and Iran’s actions over decades. “I saw that every month they did something bad, blew something up or killed someone,” Trump said.
Mike Snider
Gas prices are expected to rise in the wake of the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran, said Patrick De Haan, GasBuddy\u2019s head of petroleum analysis.
The national average price of gasoline \u2013 at about $2.98 per gallon as of Saturday, according to GasBuddy \u2013 will “absolutely hit $3\/gal on Monday for the first time in 2026,” De Haan said in a post on X<\/a>.
Subsequently, he expects prices to rise to $3.10 to $3.15 per gallon “in the next couple of weeks.” Iran is the third largest producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, producing about 4.5% of global oil supplies. But its production capabilities aren’t the biggest concern, De Haan said.
Safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz<\/a>, from which about 20% of global oil flows through, is even more important, he explained in a post on Substack<\/a>.
Iranian state media has reported ships were getting messages from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps that no vessel was allowed to pass through the strait, Reuters reported<\/a>. “Even the perception of risk there can send oil prices higher,” De Haan said.
Sarah D. Wire
President Trump’s official White House schedule for the day includes two events, both which are for his super PAC, MAGA Inc.
He is having a meeting at his Mar-a-Lago home followed by a dinner. Participants at the gatherings are not included in the notice of his official schedule.
Beyond a video posted to social media<\/a> at 2:30 a.m. ET, the president has not addressed the American people following military strikes in Iran.
Bart Jansen
The Secret Service announced<\/a> it was boosting the security for people the agency protects, who include President Trump and Vice President JD Vance, as it monitors the situation in Iran.
\u201cWhile we do not discuss our specific protective measures for operational security reasons, the public may notice an increased law enforcement and federal presence around U.S. Secret Service protected sites,\u201d the agency said. \u201cAny temporary traffic or pedestrian impacts will be communicated by our local law enforcement partners.\u201d
The agency provides round-the-clock protection for several dozen officials, including relatives of the president and former presidents.<\/a>
Cybele Mayes-Osterman
Iran’s retaliatory strikes on U.S. bases and allies in the Middle East have caused no reported U.S. casualties or “combat-related injuries,” U.S. Central Command said in a statement<\/a> posted to X. “Damage to U.S. installations was minimal and has not impacted operations.”
The American and Israeli military attack on Iran began at 1:15 a.m. on Saturday with strikes to “dismantle the Iranian regime\u2019s security apparatus,” according to the statement.
“Revolutionary Guard Corps command and control facilities, Iranian air defense capabilities, missile and drone launch sites, and military airfields.”
Low-cost, one-way attack drones were used in combat for the first time during the attack, according to the statement.
Jeanine Santucci
The U.S. attacks came as millions of Muslims in Iran are observing Ramadan<\/a>, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar that began this year in the country on Feb. 18 and lasts 30 days. Its exact timing each year depends on sighting of the moon.
During Ramadan, observant Muslims fast from dawn to sunset and recognize a time of prayer and reflection.
According to the Iranian government, more than 99% of the population is Muslim. The United States estimates there are about 87.6 million people living in Iran, according to a 2023 State Department report<\/a>.
Bart Jansen
The United Nations Security Council<\/a>scheduled a briefing on the Middle East at 4 p.m. ET.
French President\u00a0Emmanuel Macron<\/a>\u00a0and others had called for a council meeting, while UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres pushed for an immediate drawdown of hostilities.
The security council, which has 15 members, aims to maintain international peace and security. The group can impose sanctions or even authorize the use of force. But any of the five permanent members, including the United States, can veto council resolutions.
Eduardo Cuevas
Officials in cities across the country increased security measures after American and Israeli strikes in Iran.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said police in the nation\u2019s second largest city have stepped up patrols, including near places of worship and community spaces. The Los Angeles area has the nation’s largest concentration of Iranian Americans.
In the nation\u2019s largest city, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani said police are enhancing patrols out of an abundance of caution, and officials are coordinating with emergency management. In a statement, Mamdani said Iranian New Yorkers are a \u201cpart of the fabric of this city.\u201d \u201cYou will be safe here,\u201d he vowed.
The strikes come amid Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar worldwide, and days before the start of the Jewish holiday of Purim, beginning March 2. Christians are also observing Lent.
Cybele Mayes-Osterman
Ships operating in the Arabian Gulf reported that Iran may have closed the Strait of Hormuz, according to news reports and a British agency.
The U.K. Maritime Trade Operations Center said in a Saturday advisory<\/a> it received multiple reports from vessels in the area that Iran may have closed the key shipping channel.
Iranian state media reported<\/a> that ships were receiving messages from the country’s Revolutionary Guard Corps that no vessel was allowed to pass through the strait.
A closure of the strait, which sees around 20% of the world’s oil and gas flow through, could have a significant impact on global oil prices<\/a>.
Eduardo Cuevas
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, said Americans are \u201conce again dragged” into a war they don\u2019t want by President Trump.
In a statement on Saturday<\/a>, Ocasio-Cortez, a leading progressive figure, said a war would be unlawful, unnecessary and catastrophic. Trump, she added, walked away from negotiations<\/a> that could have staved off war, then \u201cflippantly acknowledged\u201d the possibility of American casualties.
\u201cMr. President: this was not an inevitability,\u201d Ocasio-Cortez said. \u201cThis is a deliberate choice of aggression when diplomacy and security were within reach. Stop lying to the American people.\u201d
Cybele Mayes-Osterman
President Trump spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu<\/a> by phone and monitored the situation in Iran overnight from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in a post on X hours after the U.S. and Israel launched an attack on Iran.<\/a>
Before the attacks, Secretary of State Marco Rubio<\/a> also called the members of the Gang of Eight \u2212 a bipartisan group of top lawmakers in the House and Senate \u2212 and was able to reach seven of them, Leavitt said.
“The President and his national security team will continue to closely monitor the situation throughout the day.”
Bart Jansen
John Bolton, who served as President Trump\u2019s national security adviser<\/a> during his first term and who the president sometimes criticized as too bellicose, supported the use of U.S. forces against Iran\u2019s leaders, military and nuclear weapons program.
\u201cThis mission is\u00a0completely justifiable and necessary,\u201d Bolton said on social media<\/a>. \u201cThe regime must fall, and the opposition needs the support of the West.\u201d
Bart Jansen
Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, the former majority leader who has opposed Trump on other foreign policy issues<\/a> such as tariffs and supporting Ukraine<\/a> in its war against Russia, said Iran \u201cdeserves no sympathy\u201d after wielding violence at home and terrorism abroad.
\u201cThe Islamic Republic of Iran made \u2018death to America; death to Israel\u2019 a central pillar of its brutal rule,\u201d McConnell said on social media<\/a>. \u201cA regime that relishes killing Arabs, Israelis, Americans, and its own people deserves no sympathy.\u201d
Francesca Chambers
Former Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene<\/a> ripped into President Trump and Vice President JD Vance for campaigning on their “America First” platform<\/a> and promising to end foreign wars \u2212 only to turn around and commit the United States to what could end up being a long conflict with Iran.
“But we are freeing the Iranian people. Please. There are 93 million people in Iran, let them liberate themselves. But Iran is on the verge of having nuclear weapons. Yeah sure. We have been spoon fed that line for decades and Trump told us all that his bombing this past summer<\/a> completely wiped it all out. It\u2019s always a lie and it\u2019s always America Last,” Greene said in a lengthy social media post.
Greene, once one of the president’s closest allies, left Congress last month after publicly splitting with Trump.<\/a>
After the latest strikes, the former Georgia lawmaker said she felt betrayed by Trump because she believed he was a different type of leader. But now, she said Americans are fighting a war “on behalf of Israel” that won’t lower the cost of living for average Americans.
Cybele Mayes-Osterman
The International Committee of the Red Cross urged all parties to uphold the rules of war.
“The military escalation in the Middle East is igniting a dangerous chain reaction across the region, with potentially devastating consequences for civilians,” Mirjana Spoljaric, the president of the committee, said in a Saturday statement.
Civilian hospitals, homes and schools, as well as medical personnel and first responders, must be protected from military attacks, Spoljaric said.
“Upholding the rules of war is an obligation and not a choice.”
Bart Jansen
Canada\u2019s Prime Minister Mark Carney<\/a> said his country \u201csupports the United States acting to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.\u201d
Carney has had disputes with President Trump<\/a> throughout his second term, largely over trade and tariffs between the two longtime allies. But Carney said Canada and its international partners have consistently called on Iran to end its nuclear program, including through United Nations sanctions in September.
\u201cCanada\u2019s position remains clear: the Islamic Republic of Iran is the principal source of instability and terror throughout the Middle East, has one of the world\u2019s worst human rights records, and must never be allowed to obtain or develop nuclear weapons,\u201d Carney said on social media.<\/a>
Bart Jansen
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky,<\/a> said the Constitution grants Congress the power<\/a> to initiate conflicts \u201cto make war less likely\u201d and said he would oppose Trump\u2019s \u201cpreemptive war\u201d in the Middle East.
James Madison, a major author of the Constitution and the fourth president, wrote that \u201cthe Executive Branch is the branch most prone to war, therefore, the Constitution, with studied care, delegated the war power to the legislature,\u201d Paul noted on social media<\/a>.
\u201cAs with all war, my first and purest instinct is wish Americans soldiers safety and success in their mission,\u201d Paul added. \u201cBut my oath of office is to the Constitution, so with studied care, I must oppose another Presidential war.\u201d
Sarah D. Wire
Speaking to NBC News<\/a>, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei is still alive \u201cas far as I know.\u201d Araqchi said senior officials in the regime had survived including the president, head of the judiciary and the parliament speaker.
\u201cAll high ranking officials are alive,\u201d he said. \u201cSo everybody is now in its position, and we are handling this situation, and everything is fine.\u201d
Aragchi said the nation may have lost “one or two commanders, but that is not a big problem.”
Bart Jansen
Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Arizona, a former Naval fighter pilot and astronaut, said the mission and end goal of the first Persian Gulf war were clear from his first mission 35 years ago as part of Operation Desert Storm. But Kelly said Trump \u201cfailed\u201d to provide that \u201cminimum level of leadership\u201d by explaining his goals to the American public.
\u201cWe\u2019ve seen this playbook before,\u201d\u00a0 Kelly said on social media<\/a>. \u201cWeeks of inflated claims, selective facts, and talk of imminent threats that led the American people into a war that cost thousands of American lives and trillions of taxpayer dollars.\u201d
Kelly called the U.S. military the most capable in the world.
\u201cThe question is never whether they can do the mission,\u201d Kelly said. \u201cIt\u2019s whether the mission makes sense and makes us safer \u2013 and what it\u2019s going to cost.\u201d
Bart Jansen
Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Arkansas, the head of the House Intelligence Committee, said Trump\u2019s goals for negotiations with Iran were clear: to stop the country from developing a nuclear weapon.
“Iran absolutely cannot be allowed to maintain a nuclear weapon or capabilities. The safety and security of Americans and our allies are on the line,\u201d Crawford said in a statement<\/a>. \u201cFurthermore, President Trump has given Iran plenty of opportunities to take the diplomatic route.\u201d
Jeanine Santucci
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called for an urgent briefing from the Trump administration for lawmakers, including a classified meeting for senators and public testimony.
“The administration has not provided Congress and the American people with critical details about the scope and immediacy of the threat,” Schumer said. “Confronting Iran\u2019s\u00a0malign regional activities, nuclear ambitions, and\u00a0harsh\u00a0oppression of the\u00a0Iranian people\u00a0demands American\u00a0strength, resolve, regional coordination, and strategic clarity. Unfortunately, President Trump\u2019s fitful cycles of lashing out and risking wider conflict are not a viable\u00a0strategy.”
Schumer was among a group of top congressional leaders known as the Gang of Eight to receive advance details from Secretary of State Marco Rubio about the U.S. military operation, a U.S. official told USA TODAY<\/a>. Schumer said he “implored” Rubio to “be straight with Congress and the American people” about the goals of the strikes.
Iran must not be allowed to have nuclear weapons, but Americans do not support involvement in a war in the Middle East, Schumer argued.
Cybele Mayes-Osterman
Iranian Defense Minister Amir Nasirzadeh and Mohammed Pakpour, the commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, were killed in Israeli attacks, three sources told Reuters.
In an address after the Saturday U.S. attack on Iran began, President Trump said the strikes were aimed at “eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime.”
Bart Jansen
Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware, the top Democrat on the committee that decides how much to fund the Pentagon, called the military strike \u201ca full-throated declaration of war\u00a0that does not clearly serve the interests\u00a0of\u00a0or reflect the wishes of the American people.\u201d
\u201cPresident Trump\u2019s\u00a0military campaign against Iran\u00a0and call for regime change are the beginning of a reckless new war of choice with no clear strategy and no clear endpoint,\u201d Coons said in a statement. \u201cThis is not how a democracy goes to war.\u201d
Bart Jansen
Congress divided largely along party lines in its reaction to the military strikes on Iran, with Republicans supporting President Trump and Democrats calling it \u201ca war of choice\u201d that should have required approval by lawmakers under the Constitution.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said \u201cIran is facing the severe consequences of its evil actions.\u201d Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Iran \u201cposed a clear and unacceptable threat to U.S. servicemembers, citizens in the region, and many of our allies.\u201d
But the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia<\/a>, asked how the attack would make America safer. Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, warned that \u201cconflict with Iran can easily spiral and escalate in ways we cannot anticipate.\u201d
Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky said he would join again with Rep. Ro Khanna of California to force a vote on the War Powers Act, which could restrict Trump\u2019s use of the military if approved.
\u201cI am opposed to this War,\u201d Massie said on social media<\/a>. \u201cThis is not \u2018America First.\u2019\u201d
Eve Chen
U.S. citizens across the Middle East are being advised to shelter in place or exercise increased caution until further notice. American embassies and consulates have issued alerts in the following countries:\u00a0
Americans had already been urged to leave Lebanon<\/a>, before the current\u00a0military operation.\u00a0
The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem stopped short of a general shelter-in-place recommendation, but it urged embassy personnel and their families to do so, while advising U.S. citizens to exercise increased caution in\u00a0Israel, the West Bank and Gaza.<\/a>\u00a0The government of Israel has also closed its airspace. \u00a0
Travelers who are already abroad or planning to go abroad can sign up for the State Department\u2019s free Smart Traveler Enrollment Program<\/a> to get the latest security-related updates for their destination.\u00a0
Bart Jansen
Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, who frequently breaks with his party\u2019s leadership, supported the president’s military attack on Iran.
\u201cPresident Trump has been willing to do what\u2019s right and necessary to produce real peace in the region,\u201d Fetterman, an outspoken supporter of Israel<\/a>, said on social media.
Francesca Chambers
Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned top congressional leaders from both political parties about the U.S. military operation in Iran before it happened, a U.S. official said.
Rubio laid out the situation for the so-called Gang of Eight during a briefing at the White House hours before President Trump delivered his State of the Union address on Tuesday. He then made calls to the lawmakers before the strikes to give them a heads up. He connected with seven; one was unreachable.
That grouping includes House Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Leader John Thune and the chairs and other top members of congressional intelligence committees.
The Department of Defense notified members of the armed services committees early this morning after strikes had commenced, the official said.
Dan Morrison
Sen. Chris Van Hollen said President Trump’s attack on Iran was had “already resulted in mass civilian casualties” and endangered American lives.
\u201cTrump is lying to the American people as he launches an illegal, regime-change war against Iran,” Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, he said in a statement. “This is endangering American lives and has already resulted in mass civilian casualties.”
“This is not making us safer and only damages the U.S. and our interests,” Van Hollen said. “The Senate must immediately vote on the War Powers Resolution to stop it.\u201d
Iran said scores of people had been killed in an airstrike on a school building in southern Iran.
Francesca Chambers
House Speaker Mike Johnson said the Trump administration provided a detailed briefing to top congressional leaders from both political parties, collectively known as the Gang of 8, ahead of the strikes and he has since received updates from Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
“The Gang of 8 was briefed in detail earlier this week that military action may become necessary to protect American troops and American citizens in Iran. I received updates from Secretary Rubio thereafter, and I will remain in close contact with the President and the Department of War as this operation proceeds,” Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, said in a post on X.
Rubio held a briefing at the White House just ahead of Trump’s address to Congress on Feb. 24 for Johnson, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and the top Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Armed Services and Intelligence Committees.
Jeanine Santucci
After the United States and Israel launched strikes in Iran on Saturday,\u00a0some world leaders backed\u00a0the\u00a0military\u00a0action\u00a0and others urged the United States\u00a0to deescalate.\u00a0\u00a0
French President\u00a0Emmanuel Macron<\/a> called for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security\u00a0Council.
\u201cThe ongoing escalation is dangerous for all. It must stop,” Macron said. “The Iranian regime must understand that it now has no other\u00a0option\u00a0but to engage in good faith in negotiations to end its nuclear and ballistic programs, as well as its regional destabilization activities.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0
Iran must not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons, and Britain does not want to see\u00a0escalation to a wider regional conflict, a spokesperson for UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said.\u00a0
Foreign Minister Sayyid\u00a0Badr\u00a0Albusaidi\u00a0of Oman, which had been mediating U.S.-Iran\u00a0nuclear\u00a0talks, said: \u201cNeither the interests of the United States nor the cause of global peace\u00a0are\u00a0well served by this. And I pray for the innocents who will suffer. I urge the United States not to get sucked in further. This is not your war<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0
Russia\u00a0said the United States and Israel hade plunged the Middle East into an \u201cabyss of uncontrolled escalation.\u201d\u00a0
In the early hours of the attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the new round of conflict. “For 47 years, the Ayatollah regime has called for ‘Death to Israel’ and ‘Death to America.’ It has spilled our blood, murdered many Americans, and massacred its own people,” he said in a statement. “This murderous terrorist regime must not be allowed to arm itself with nuclear weapons that would enable it to threaten all of humanity.”
Dan Morrison
Iran has long denied seeking nuclear weapons. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Feb. 26 that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has banned weapons of mass destruction, which “clearly means Tehran won’t develop nuclear weapons,” reiterating a fatwa issued in the early 2000s.
Tehran is in “no way seeking nuclear weapons,” Pezeshkian told the state broadcaster on Feb. 18.
U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and President Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, had been negotiating indirectly with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in talks mediated by the Persian Gulf emirate of Oman. On Saturday, Oman condemned the U.S. and Israeli attacks.
Araqchi said Feb. 24 that Iran wanted a deal \u2212 but reiterated that Tehran would not forgo its right to peaceful nuclear technology. “A deal is within reach, but only if diplomacy is given priority,” Araqchi said in a statement on X.
Kim Hjelmgaard
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian were both directly targeted in the U.S. and Israeli airstrikes, a Middle Eastern official familiar with the matter told USA TODAY.
The official spoke on the condition of anonymity. Reuters was the first to report the targeting of Iran’s top leaders.
The official also said, without providing additional information, that several senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commanders were killed in the strikes.
The official did not discuss the outcome of the strikes on Khamenei or Pezeshkian. Iranian state media has said Pezeshkian is accounted for and safe. Iran has not commented on Khamenei.
Sarah D. Wire
President Trump did not ask Congress for permission to begin “major combat operations” in Iran.
Formal declarations of war take congressional approval. The\u00a0War Powers Resolution of 1973\u00a0(also called the War Powers Act) restricts the U.S. President’s ability to commit armed forces to combat without congressional approval. It requires the president to notify Congress within 48 hours of deploying troops and mandates their removal within 60 to 90 days unless Congress declares war or authorizes an extension.\u00a0
Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky) and Ro Khanna (D-California) will continue their efforts to force a vote in the House next week on a resolution to block U.S. military action against Iran without Congressional authorization.
Khanna urged Congress to reconvene Monday to hold the vote on what is called a war powers resolution. The House is not scheduled to return until Tuesday.
“Every member of Congress must go on record today on how they will vote,” he said on social media<\/a>.
On social media<\/a>, Massie called the strikes on Iran “acts of war unauthorized by Congress.”
Sarah D. Wire
U.S. forces intercepted several rockets and drones targeting the American consulate and a U.S. coalition base at the airport in Erbil in northern Iraq, Iraqi state media said, citing the Iraqi Kurdish regional counter-terrorism service.
The sprawling consulate, one of largest diplomatic facilities in the Middle East<\/a>, opened in December 2025 in the Iraqi Kurdistan region.
Sarah D. Wire
There’s been no word of the whereabouts or safety of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei<\/a> since the U.S. and Israel launched attacks in on Feb. 28.
Khamenei, 86, is a cleric and politician who has led Iran since 1989. He previously served as the president from 1981 to 1989.\u00a0
He was a close ally of Iran’s first supreme leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who led the country’s 1979 revolution that overthrew the government and founded Iran’s Islamic Republic.
As Supreme Leader, Khamenei has\u00a0final say on all of Iran’s domestic and foreign policy. He appoints the heads of its justice department, security and intelligence agencies and state media. He also decides who can run for president and he has authority over Iran’s nuclear program. He interprets the application of Iran’s religious laws and codes.
Sarah D. Wire
At least 40 people were killed in an Israeli strike on a girls’ school in Minab in southern Iran, Reuters reported, citing state media.
Separately, state news agency IRNA reported one student was killed and two others injured in an airstrike on a school in Abyek, in northwest Iran.
The reports could not be immediately confirmed.
Kim Hjelmgaard
The strikes on Iran could usher in new volatility for global oil supply, which in turn could impact gas prices in the United States<\/a>, according to economic analysts.
Despite years of economic sanctions on its oil industry, the Islamic Republic still has an oil output of about 3.3 million barrels a day, or 3% of global output, according to Bloomberg data. That makes Iran the fourth-largest oil producer in OPEC, the global club of leading oil-producing nations.
WTI crude oil futures, one of the main financial-markets oil contracts, are closed for the weekend. But they rose about 3% one day ahead of the strikes on Iran and economists at Capital Economics, a consultancy, wrote on Feb. 28 that they are expecting oil prices to push even higher because of the conflict in the Middle East.
Francesca Chambers
The Ukrainian government is backing regime change<\/a> in Iran.
Iran “was given opportunities for diplomacy and finding solutions, but the regime ignored these efforts and instead only stalled for time in the hope of misleading the international community,” Ukraine’s foreign ministry said<\/a>.
Iran is an essential supplier of Shahed attack drones to Russia. The drones have killed thousands of Ukrainian civilians.
Invoking Russia’s ongoing invasion the Ukrainian foreign ministry said Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s regime had a history of human rights violations and support for militant groups that have caused chaos in other countries.
“The reason for the current events is precisely the violence and arbitrariness of the Iranian regime, in particular the murders and repressions against peaceful protesters, which have become particularly large-scale in recent months,” the foreign ministry said.
Dan Morrison
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps, the military force that serves as the backbone of the country’s Islamist clerical government, said the government would continue its retaliatory airstrikes until its enemies were “decisively defeated,” state news agencies reported.
“All occupied territories and the criminal U.S. bases in the region have been struck by the powerful blows of Iranian missiles. This operation will continue relentlessly until the enemy is decisively defeated,” Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said.
State media said Iran’s army chief, Maj. Gen. Amir Hatami, was alive and in command \u2212 while making no mention of the whereabouts of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Iran took credit for strikes on targets in Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Israel, saying its operation \u201cTrue Promise-4\u201d had targeted \u201cthe criminal US army and the child-killing Zionist regime.\u201d UAE officials said one person was killed in Abu Dhabi.
Kim Hjelmgaard
Israel’s Home Front Command \u2212 a government agency that protects its civilian population from the impact of conflict or natural disasters \u2212 lifted some restrictions for members of the public, saying in a statement that it was “now permitted to leave protected spaces in several areas across Israel.”
It did not detail information about injuries or deaths but said search and rescue teams have been deployed in several locations across the country where reports of fallen projectiles were received.
Francesca Chambers
President Trump said advised Iranian armed forces and police to lay down their weapons “and have complete immunity, or in the alternative, face certain death” and told protesters in Iran, who’ve been brutalized by the government, that the “hour of your freedom” was at hand.
“When we are finished, take over your government, it will be yours to take. This will be, probably, your only chance for generations,” Trump warned.
Trump told the Iranian people to seize control of their government while they can.
“No president was willing to do what I am willing to do tonight. Now you have a president who is giving you what you want, so let’s see how you respond,” Trump told them. “This is the moment for action. Do not let it pass.”
Will Carless
Iran has apparently launched retaliatory attacks against several US military bases in the Middle East.\u00a0
A U.S. official told NBC News the attacks had started. Media reports showed clouds of smoke apparently from an air strike in Bahrain, where official state media said that a missile attack targeted the U.S. Navy\u2019s 5th Fleet headquarters.
“We condemn the attacks & reserves the right to respond in coordination w\/ allies,” Bahrain’s ambassador to the U.S., Abdulla al-Khalifa, said in a post on X.
According to media reports, witnesses have also heard sirens and explosions in Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
Jordan’s government said it had downed two ballistic missiles targeting its territory. \u00a0
Kim Hjelmgaard and Cybele Mayes-Osterman
Explosions were reported in Bahrain’s capital, home to U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, according to Bahrain’s state media news agency. It said, citing Bahrain’s National Communication Center, that the “service center” of the Fifth Fleet was subjected to a missile attack.
It wasn’t immediately clear what specific role the service center plays for the 5th Fleet, where the U.S. has its largest Middle East naval presence. A spokesperson for the fleet did not immediately respond to a clarification request. Earlier, the U.S. embassy in Bahrain urged U.S. nationals there to shelter in place.
The small island nation of Bahrain is located about 150 miles across the Persian Gulf from the Iranian coast, just north of Qatar.
Ships with the 5th Fleet were at sea on Feb. 24 and 25 in a possible defensive maneuver, according to an Associated Press analysis<\/a> of satellite photos shot by Planet Labs PBC.
The fleet was also at sea in anticipation of Iran’s June attack on the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar<\/a> in retaliation for the U.S. bombing of its nuclear facilities, according to the report.
Kim Hjelmgaard
Amid the U.S. and Israel bombing campaign, Iranian authorities have moved to cut access to the outside world, according to Net Blocks<\/a>, a watchdog that monitors international data and cellphone connectivity.
“Network data show Iran is now in the midst of a near-total internet blackout with national connectivity at 4% or ordinary levels,” the organization said in a statement. The group said the levels of internet connection “matches measures used during last year’s war with Israel.” Iran also cut internet access amid large-scale demonstrations \u2212 and its brutal crackdown<\/a> \u2212 in late December and January.
Will Carless
Iran\u2019s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is not in Iran and has been \u201ctransferred to a secure location,\u201d an Iranian security source told Reuters.
Several media outlets reported Friday night that smoke from an apparent air strike had been seen in the Iranian Capital Tehran, close to Khamenei\u2019s offices.
The fate of the Iranian leader remained uncertain early Saturday morning.
Kim Hjelmgaard
The Pentagon said on Saturday that U.S. strikes against Iran were named “OPERATION EPIC FURY.” Israel called its part in the air assault “Roaring Lion.”
Francesca Chambers
President Trump said his administration repeatedly sought to enter into an agreement with the regime that would avoided military action but Tehran refused to abandon its nuclear ambitions.
“They just wanted to practice evil,” Trump said in the statement, delivered from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. “And we can’t take it anymore.”
Trump said Iran was seeking to rebuild its nuclear program after the U.S. bombed its nuclear facilities last June and was developing long-range missiles that threaten American allies and U.S. troops overseas. He said the weapons “could soon reach the American homeland.”
It was not immediately clear when the video that was posted to his social media account<\/a> was taped.
In the statement, Trump outlined decades of antagonism from Iranian regime and its proxy forces, saying it has been “mass terror” against American forces in the region and international shippers.
Trump said the U.S. would “destroy” Iran’s missiles, “annihilate” its navy and ensure its proxy groups are no longer able to attack American forces and destabilize the region. “And we will ensure that Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon.”
“This regime will soon learn that no one should challenge the strength and might of the United States armed forces,” Trump said.
Kim Hjelmgaard
Israel identified missiles launched from Iran toward its territory, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement. It did not specify how many or the targets. Iran has not commented on the assertion.
Israel’s military said its anti-missile systems were working to intercept the projectiles. Israeli authorities urged member of the the public to “enter a protected space”: bomb shelters. Israel media reported that some explosions were detected across northern Israel, near its border with Lebanon.
Kim Hjelmgaard
The U.S. military buildup near Iran is the largest since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 against the regime of Saddam Hussein. That war, and its consequences, still looms large for many in the country because more than 4,400 Americans lost their lives.
More broadly, the conflict unleashed large-scale displacements, led to hundreds of thousands of deaths across the Middle East and ushered in deep regional instability. Some national security experts are already sounding the alarm about these new Iran strikes.
“By attacking Iran, President Trump is risking the lives of U.S. service members for an unnecessary war under the false notion that a country as weak and remote as Iran, which cannot strike the American homeland, posed an imminent threat to the United States,” said Rosemary Kelanic, director of the Middle East Program at Defense Priorities, a Washington think tank.
“What is this war about? The American people do not know,” she said.
Kim Hjelmgaard
The top U.S. diplomat in Israel, Ambassador Mike Huckabee<\/a>, said in a social media post that all American citizens and their families in Israel should be prepared to immediately seek shelter.
Iran has said it will retaliate against the United States and Israeli bombing campaign, though it’s currently unclear what form that might take. Israel at its closest point to Iran is about 650 miles away. Israelis are long used to going to bomb shelters in the middle of the night because of repeated wars with its near-neighbors.
Francesca Chambers
President Trump announced “major combat operations” in Iran that he said may result in American military casualties.
“A short time ago, the United States military began major combat operations in Iran. Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime, a vicious group of very hard terrible people,” Trump said.
Trump confirmed U.S. involvement in the strikes on Iran in a video posted<\/a> to social media at 2:30 am EDT.
“The lives of courageous American heroes may be lost, and we may have casualties, that often happens in war, but we’re doing this not for now, we’re doing this for the future, and it’s a noble mission,” Trump said.
Kim Hjelmgaard
Several ministries and government buildings in Tehran were targeted, an Iranian official told Reuters. There were no immediate reports of injuries or deaths. The Iranian official said, without elaborating, that his country will respond to the attacks.
A resident of Tehran told USA TODAY that he was hearing explosions in parts of Iran’s capital. He requested his identity be withheld.
Francesca Chambers
The U.S. Embassy in\u00a0Qatar\u00a0directed its employees<\/a> to “shelter-in place” and recommended that Americans who are currently in the Gulf nation do the same.
Tehran warned prior to the overnight airstrike that U.S. bases in the region could become<\/a> military targets in the event of an attack, with Iranian missiles unable to strike U.S. soil directly.
Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar is the largest<\/a> U.S. base in the Middle East and housed some 10,000 troops as of January, according to Reuters.
Kim Hjelmgaard
One of Israel’s key demands is that it does not want Iran to be able to enrich any uranium that could be used to make a nuclear weapon, according to an Israeli official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The official said Israel also wants Iran to limit the range of its ballistic missile and halt all financing to its allies in the region such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza. Iran has long denied it seeks to build nuclear weapons. It says it needs uranium for its civilian energy needs.<\/p>\n

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