People take shelters at a metro station in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 28, 2026. The Israel Defense Forces' Home Front Command has issued civil defense directives as air raid sirens sounded in multiple areas nationwide, urging residents to take shelter. The United States and Israel on Saturday launched "major combat operations" against Iran after the recent U.S.-Iran nuclear talks in Geneva failed to yield a deal to avert the crisis. (Gideon Markowicz/JINI via Xinhua)
CAIRO, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- The United States and Israel on Saturday launched "major combat operations" against Iran, plunging the war-torn Middle East into a new round of violent conflicts.
Iran retaliated with a series of counterattacks against Israel and U.S. targets across the region, with explosions reported in Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Saudi Arabia, among other countries.
U.S. President Donald Trump said the objective "is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats" from Iran, and the Israeli Defense Ministry said the country launched a "preemptive" strike against Iran "to remove threats to Israel."
In Tehran, missiles hit areas near the offices of both Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian. Iranian sources said that both leaders remain unhurt.
Israeli-U.S. airstrikes also struck a girls' school in southern Iran, killing at least 57 students, according to Iran's state-run IRNA news agency.
"In response to the aggression by the hostile and criminal enemy against the Islamic Republic of Iran," the country's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said, "Iran's large-scale missile and drone attack against Israel has started."
The Iranian armed forces said all U.S. military bases in the region are legitimate targets for Iran. According to Iran's Fars News Agency, Tehran struck military installations in several Gulf Arab countries hosting U.S. military forces, including Qatar, Kuwait, the UAE, and Bahrain. It specifically named Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar and the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet headquarters in Bahrain as targets.
In response to the sharp regional escalation, several countries have slammed their airspace totally or partially shut, and multiple airlines have cancelled flights to the Middle East.
The latest flare-up came after the United States and Iran wrapped up their third round of indirect talks earlier this week and agreed to resume negotiations next week. It is reminiscent of last June when, during negotiations between Washington and Tehran, Israel launched a surprise attack on Iran and triggered the "12-day war," during which the United States bombed Iran's critical nuclear facilities. ■
People take shelters at a metro station in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 28, 2026. The Israel Defense Forces' Home Front Command has issued civil defense directives as air raid sirens sounded in multiple areas nationwide, urging residents to take shelter.
The United States and Israel on Saturday launched "major combat operations" against Iran after the recent U.S.-Iran nuclear talks in Geneva failed to yield a deal to avert the crisis. (Gideon Markowicz/JINI via Xinhua)
A man takes shelter at a metro station in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 28, 2026. The Israel Defense Forces' Home Front Command has issued civil defense directives as air raid sirens sounded in multiple areas nationwide, urging residents to take shelter.
The United States and Israel on Saturday launched "major combat operations" against Iran after the recent U.S.-Iran nuclear talks in Geneva failed to yield a deal to avert the crisis. (Gideon Markowicz/JINI via Xinhua)
People take shelters at a metro station in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 28, 2026. The Israel Defense Forces' Home Front Command has issued civil defense directives as air raid sirens sounded in multiple areas nationwide, urging residents to take shelter.
The United States and Israel on Saturday launched "major combat operations" against Iran after the recent U.S.-Iran nuclear talks in Geneva failed to yield a deal to avert the crisis. (Gideon Markowicz/JINI via Xinhua)
People take shelters at a metro station in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 28, 2026. The Israel Defense Forces' Home Front Command has issued civil defense directives as air raid sirens sounded in multiple areas nationwide, urging residents to take shelter.
The United States and Israel on Saturday launched "major combat operations" against Iran after the recent U.S.-Iran nuclear talks in Geneva failed to yield a deal to avert the crisis. (Gideon Markowicz/JINI via Xinhua)