U.S., Israel launch strikes on Iran; Tehran retaliates

1 MARCH 2026

The U.S. and Israel launched a major attack on Iran, and U.S. President Donald Trump called upon the Iranian public to “seize control of your destiny” by rising up against the Islamic leadership that has ruled the West Asian nation since 1979.
Iran retaliated by firing missiles and drones toward Israel and U.S. military bases in the region in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei claimed dead

Some of the first strikes on Iran appeared to hit areas around the offices of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Smoke could be seen rising from the capital as part of strikes that Iranian media said occurred nationwide.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that there were many signs indicating Mr. Khamenei “is no longer”, without explicitly confirming his death.

Casualties

The Iranian Red Crescent reported that at least 201 people were killed and 747 wounded in strikes by the U.S. and Israel against Iran.
At least 85 people were reportedly killed at a girls’ school in southern Iran in the Israeli-U.S. strikes, and dozens of others were wounded, according to Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency.
Shrapnel from an Iranian missile attack on the capital of the UAE killed one person, state media said.

Consequences

In an indication of the scope of the conflict, flights across West Asia were disrupted and air defence fire thudded over Dubai, the commercial capital of the United Arab Emirates.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards radioed ships to say the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway, was shut, according to the EU’s naval mission.

Pre-planned attack

The U.S. military has for weeks amassed forces in the region, even as U.S. and Iranian envoys held talks in Switzerland and Oman aimed at finding a diplomatic solution.
Israel said the operation has been planned for months with the U.S.
Mr. Trump’s statement listed grievances beyond the nuclear programme, stretching back to the beginning of the Islamic Republic following a revolution in 1979 that turned Iran from an American ally in West Asia into a fierce foe.
The U.S. President said he was aiming to “annihilate” the Iranian Navy and destroy regional proxies supported by Tehran.
Democrats decried that Mr. Trump had taken action without congressional authorisation.