Israel and U.S. carry out strikes on Iran as explosions rattle Tehran

Israel said it launched a pre-emptive attack on Iran on 28 February, setting off explosions in Tehran and other cities while U.S. President Donald Trump announced the United States had begun "major combat operations" in Iran. The action expanded a confrontation that had been building through months of warnings from Washington and Jerusalem.

Defence Minister Israel Katz, speaking to Reuters, said, "The State of Israel launched a pre-emptive attack against Iran to remove threats to the State of Israel." Israeli authorities ordered broad public-safety measures including closure of civilian airspace, the airports authority advising people not to travel to airports, and the temporary closure of schools and many workplaces with exceptions for essential sectors. Sirens sounded across Israel as officials urged residents to seek protected areas.

State media and independent witnesses reported explosions and smoke in multiple Iranian cities, with Iran’s IRINN broadcaster briefly experiencing an audio interruption before displaying a running caption reporting strikes and plumes of smoke in parts of Tehran. The Islamic Republic News Agency said explosions were heard in two locations in the capital and smoke was visible in the city centre. Reuters published images showing smoke rising over Tehran following an explosion.

U.S. participation was reported by multiple outlets. Two U.S. officials told CNN that American strikes were underway and described the action as "not a small strike." Al Jazeera and other outlets carried President Trump’s statement that U.S. forces had begun "major combat operations," and reports said he posted a video on Truth Social announcing the actions. An Israeli defence official told Reuters the operation had been planned for months in coordination with Washington and that the launch date had been decided weeks ago.

On the ground in Israel, BBC correspondent Lucy Williamson described a tense atmosphere in Tel Aviv, saying, "Israel has woken up this morning at war with Iran for the second time in less than a year." The public disruptions were immediate: beaches were largely empty and officials moved to restrict civilian movement and transit as they prepared for potential Iranian retaliation.

There are still significant gaps in independent verification. Reuters quoted a source saying Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had been transferred to a secure location. No confirmed casualty figures, detailed target lists, or independent forensic attribution of specific strikes were available in initial reporting. Iranian claims of retaliation appeared in some live updates, but open-source confirmation of the full sequence of strikes and counterstrikes was incomplete.

The reported joint U.S.-Israeli operation carries immediate policy and institutional implications. Coordinated strikes raise urgent questions about executive authority and legislative oversight in Washington, and about the legal and parliamentary procedures exercised in Israel to authorize cross-border military action. For civilians across the region, the strikes have immediate consequences for safety, commercial aviation, and public services, and they increase the risk of a wider regional escalation.

Journalists and analysts will be seeking satellite imagery, hospital and emergency services data, official target lists and detailed statements from the U.S. Department of Defense, the Israeli military and Iranian authorities to clarify scope and consequences. For now, the episode marks a dramatic intensification of hostilities between two state adversaries and tests international institutions charged with crisis de-escalation.