{"id":63157,"date":"2026-02-28T16:53:45","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T21:53:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=63157"},"modified":"2026-02-28T16:53:52","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T21:53:52","slug":"on-saturday-february-28-2026-the-united-states-and-israel-launched-a-massive-coordinated-military-operation-against-iran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2026\/02\/28\/on-saturday-february-28-2026-the-united-states-and-israel-launched-a-massive-coordinated-military-operation-against-iran\/","title":{"rendered":"On Saturday, February 28, 2026, the United States and Israel launched a massive, coordinated military operation against Iran"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On Saturday, February 28, 2026, the United States and Israel launched a massive, coordinated military operation against Iran, codenamed “Operation Epic Fury”<\/strong> by the U.S. and “Operation Lion’s Roar”<\/strong> by Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The strikes have targeted hundreds of locations nationwide, with the stated objective of destroying Iran’s nuclear and missile programs and toppling the Islamic Republic’s leadership.<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Status of the Supreme Leader<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Reports regarding Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei<\/strong> are currently the subject of intense conflicting reports:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • Israeli Reports:<\/strong> Israeli officials and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have stated there are “growing signs” that Khamenei was killed in a strike on his compound in Tehran. Some Israeli security sources have told media outlets they have confirmed his death.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Iranian Reports:<\/strong> Iranian state media and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi have countered these claims, stating that the Supreme Leader was evacuated before the strikes and remains alive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • U.S. Position:<\/strong> President Trump has indicated he believes the reports of Khamenei’s death are likely “correct,” though the Pentagon has not yet issued a formal confirmation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    \n\n\n\n

    Scope of the Military Operations<\/h3>\n\n\n
    \n
    \"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

    The assault began around 1:00 AM Eastern Time and has involved waves of airstrikes and missile launches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    • Primary Targets:<\/strong> Military airfields, Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) command centers, ballistic missile launch sites, and nuclear-related facilities in cities including Tehran, Isfahan, Qom, and Mashhad.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Casualties:<\/strong> Early reports from the Iranian Red Crescent estimate at least 201 people killed<\/strong> and over 700 injured<\/strong>, including a significant number of civilians.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Regime Change:<\/strong> In an 8-minute video address, President Trump urged the Iranian people to “take over your government,” framing the operation as a chance for “generations” to reclaim their country.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      Iranian Retaliation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

      Tehran has responded by launching “waves” of missiles and drones:<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \n
      • Targeted Areas:<\/strong> Strikes have hit Israel and U.S. military installations in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and the UAE<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Impact:<\/strong> A missile strike targeted the U.S. Navy\u2019s 5th Fleet headquarters in Bahrain, and one person was reported killed by falling debris in Abu Dhabi.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

        Global Impact<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

        The conflict has caused immediate chaos in the Middle East:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          \n
        • Airspace Closures:<\/strong> Commercial flights across the region have been grounded or diverted as airspaces in the UAE, Jordan, and other neighboring countries closed.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Diplomatic Response:<\/strong> The UN Security Council has called an emergency meeting. Russia and China have condemned the strikes as a “reckless act of military aggression,” while the UK and France are pushing for an immediate ceasefire.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          On Saturday, February 28, 2026, the United States and Israel launched a massive, coordinated military operation against Iran, codenamed “Operation Epic Fury” by the U.S. and “Operation Lion’s Roar” by… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":63159,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"17","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":true,"token":"eyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvaTAud3AuY29tXC9sYWtlbGFuZGdhemV0dGUuaW5mb1wvbmV3c1wvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAyNlwvMDJcLzE3NzIyNzA2MDc2NzNfbmJjX3NwZWNfaXJhbl9mdXJ5XzRhXzI2MDIyOF8xOTIweDEwODAteDhibGVyLndlYnA_Zml0PTc2MCUyQzQyOCZzc2w9MSIsInR4dCI6Ik9uIFNhdHVyZGF5LCBGZWJydWFyeSAyOCwgMjAyNiwgdGhlIFVuaXRlZCBTdGF0ZXMgYW5kIElzcmFlbCBsYXVuY2hlZCBhIG1hc3NpdmUsIGNvb3JkaW5hdGVkIG1pbGl0YXJ5IG9wZXJhdGlvbiBhZ2FpbnN0IElyYW4iLCJ0ZW1wbGF0ZSI6ImhpZ2h3YXkiLCJmb250IjoiIiwiYmxvZ19pZCI6MTYzMDQwNjYxfQ.LnmdExIfvE8OkhK8ghFl-71zP-Q7G7PKwDRK6fO0q_gMQ"},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[17],"tags":[13094,13847,13846,13848],"class_list":["post-63157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-regional-and-world-news","tag-13094","tag-february-28","tag-on-saturday","tag-the-united-states-and-israel-launched-a-massive"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63157"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63157\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63160,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63157\/revisions\/63160"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}