WHO KILLED KHAMENEI - THE US OR ISRAEL?

Is this the moment Khamenei died? Israel posts video of massive bombardment of Iranian 'terror regime' headquarters in Tehran

 

By Jamie Boys 

 

Daily Mail

Mar 1, 2026

 

 

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's daughter, grandchild, daughter-in-law and son-in-law were also killed in joint US and Israeli strikes

 

This is the moment dozens of Israeli bombs obliterated the 'headquarters of the Iranian terror regime' with a devastating airstrike in Tehran. 

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed yesterday by Israeli airstrikes. It is not yet known whether this was the bombardment that took out the Iranian Supreme Leader.  

The video shows multiple explosions in two buildings in Iran's capital, Tehran. 

The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) posted on X: 'Watch the first footage from the Air Force's extensive raid in the heart of Tehran.

'Attached is footage from the final moments of the destruction of the headquarters of the Iranian terror regime in the heart of Tehran.' 

Iran formally confirmed that Khamenei was killed in his home office yesterday. 'To Allah we belong and to Him we shall return,' an Iranian news agency said. 

Two high-level military leaders - Rear Adm. Ali Shamkhani, and commander of the IRGC Maj. Gen. Mohammad Pakpour - and four of Khamenei's close family were also killed by airstrikes on Saturday morning. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump were reportedly shown an image of Khamenei's body after it was recovered from his compound.

 

The IDF posted the moment Israeli bombs destroyed 'headquarters of the Iranian terror regime'

Smoke billows in the aftermath of dozens of Israeli bombs on two buildings in Tehran 

Iran has branded the killing of their leader as a 'declaration of war against Muslims'. 

Bombs continue to rain down on Iran this morning after Israeli and US forces begun an attack on Iran on Saturday. 

Donald Trump has today promised to strike Iran 'with a force that has never been seen before,' after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced they had attacked nearly 30 US military bases across the Middle East on Sunday morning.

The targeted attacks on American assets in the destabilized region are part of Iran's self-proclaimed 'most intense offensive operation in history,' in retaliation for the killing of Islamic State Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Israel announced in the early hours of Sunday that it had begun a new 'strike wave' targeting Iran's ballistic missiles and aerial defence systems, after Iran launched drones and missiles at Tel Aviv, which were intercepted and shot down.

In response, the IRGC said it was carrying out a 'sixth wave' of 'extensive missile and drone' attacks on 27 US military bases. The extent of the damage is not yet clear.

In the last few hours residents of Saudi Arabia's capital, Riyadh, reported hearing several loud explosions and saw smoke rising from the city. 

 

A group of missiles sailing over Dubai overnight - some of the more than 100 launched by Iran at the state

Dubai's iconic sail-shaped Burj Al Arab was ablaze following Iranian attacks

The Palm Jumeirah hotel in Dubai was also engulfed in flames

 

Explosions have been heard for a second day in Qatar, Israel, Bahrain, Kuwait and Iraq, and in Oman for the first time, though most missiles and drones have been downed by air defences. 

Iran also launched two missiles towards Cyprus, which hosts British military bases, UK Defence Secretary John Healey revealed this morning. 

Smoke was seen rising from Dubai International Airport this morning and blasts were heard in a number of regional states. 

Yesterday, Iranian suicide drones hit landmark hotels the Burj Al Arab and Palm Jumeirah in Dubai, sparking panic among tourists. 

A fire broke out at the iconic sail-shaped Burj Al Arab hotel after debris smashed into it.

The UAE's Ministry of Defence said that, as of late last night, 137 ballistic missiles had been launched by Iran towards the Emirates, of which 132 had been destroyed by air defences and five fell into the Persian Gulf.

It said it had also been targeted by 209 suicide drones of which 195 were intercepted and 14 got through - with some hitting the territory. 

PARADISE AWAITS HIM

The butcher's apprentice: How AMIA bombing mastermind Ahmad Vahidi seized control of the IRGC

Meet the new IRGC chief: Ahmad Vahidi, wanted for the deadly 1994 AMIA bombing in Argentina 

 

Israel Hayom

Mar 1, 2026

 

 

 

Ahmad Vahidi against the backdrop of the AMIA building's rubble in 1994. 

 

Iranian state media reported Sunday morning that Ahmad Vahidi will take the helm of the Revolutionary Guards (the IRGC) after a joint strike eliminated his predecessor Mohammad Pakpour Saturday night. The sanctioned new commander carries a dark legacy, including deep ties to the devastating bombing of the Jewish community center in Argentina. Who exactly is Ahmad Vahidi? 

Born in 1958 in the Iranian city of Shiraz, Vahidi joined the Revolutionary Guards a year after the 1979 revolution that toppled the Pahlavi dynasty and ushered in ayatollah rule under Ruhollah Khomeini.

Vahidi rapidly ascended the ranks of the Revolutionary Guards, securing an appointment as deputy for internal security within the organization's intelligence unit.

The Revolutionary Guards-affiliated Tasnim news agency noted that Vahidi led the intelligence directorate until the end of the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s. The outlet also credited him with helping establish the Ministry of Intelligence and Security in 1983.

Beyond his extensive intelligence background, Brig. Gen. Vahidi served as the founding commander of the Quds Force (the IRGC foreign operations arm), the elite unit tasked with executing extraterritorial operations and gathering foreign intelligence. Qassem Soleimani, whom an American targeted strike eliminated in Baghdad five years ago, eventually succeeded him.

Shortly after Vahidi established the Quds Force, a Lebanese terrorist detonated a massive car bomb at the AMIA (Argentine Israelite Mutual Association) Jewish community building in Buenos Aires. The devastating suicide attack killed 85 people and wounded 330 others.

 

Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi appointed new IRGC chief by Iran's Interim Leadership Council

 

Argentine prosecutor Alberto Nisman concluded in 2006 that the AMIA attack "was agreed upon at the highest levels of the Iranian government." Nisman's rigorous investigation prompted the Argentine judiciary to issue international arrest warrants for nine Iranian and Hezbollah officials, prominently featuring Vahidi. Interpol (the international police organization) also maintains an active red notice for him over his role in the massacre.

Transitioning from his Quds Force command, Vahidi joined the Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics as deputy for planning, serving in that capacity until 2005. When Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won the Iranian presidency that year, Vahidi stepped up as deputy head of the Defense Ministry.

During Ahmadinejad's second term in 2009, Vahidi took charge as defense minister for four years. He leveraged the position to rapidly accelerate the development of conventional weaponry, focusing on tanks, fighter jets, missiles, and armored combat vehicles.

 

Ahmad Vahidi (R) was invited to an event by Bolivian President Evo Morales (L).

 

His appointment as defense minister drew fierce international backlash due to his documented involvement in the AMIA bombing. When Bolivia invited Vahidi to a ceremony in 2011, Argentina and the global Jewish community launched massive protests. The Bolivian interior minister swiftly expelled him. The official stated, "The Bolivian government ensured that Ahmad Vahidi would leave Bolivian territory immediately," while formally apologizing to his Argentine counterpart for the diplomatic blunder.

In August 2021, former President Ebrahim Raisi – infamously known as the "Butcher of Tehran" before dying alongside his foreign minister in a 2024 helicopter crash – appointed Vahidi as interior minister.

Observers widely consider Vahidi fiercely loyal to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. When the fracture between Ahmadinejad and Khamenei erupted into public view, Vahidi effectively served as the supreme leader's mole within the cabinet, routinely submitting official reports to Khamenei detailing the chaos paralyzing the government.

The interim Revolutionary Guards commander champions notoriously hardline policies. He previously warned that Israel would draw its final breath if it dared strike the Islamic Republic's nuclear sites. In the wake of Soleimani's assassination, Vahidi publicly demanded retaliation that would cause the air to get stuck in the Americans' throats.

During a national television interview in July, an anchor asked him about the threat of an Israeli strike. He replied, "The Zionist regime is in complete isolation, and it does not have the power to attack Iran, unless it has decided to commit suicide because if it does so – it will be severely attacked and destroyed."

ISRAEL IS A MAJOR PLAYER IN THE US-IRAN WAR

Historic Israeli Air Force operation: 200 fighter jets hammer Iran

The operation involved hundreds of munitions targeting roughly 500 objectives, including missile launchers and aerial defense systems.

 

By David Isaac  

 

Israel Today

Mar 1, 2026

 

 

Israeli pilots prepare to take off for Iran on the morning of Saturday, February 28, 2026.

 

Two hundred fighter jets streaked across Israel’s skies with a thunderous roar, in “the largest military flyover” in Israeli Air Force history, the Israel Defense Forces said on Saturday.

“The IDF completed an extensive attack against the missile array and the defense systems of the Iranian terror regime in western and central Iran,” the military said in a statement.

The operation, based on high-quality military intelligence, involved hundreds of munitions targeting roughly 500 objectives, including surface-to-surface missile launchers and aerial defense systems.

 

 

Israeli fighter jets on way to Iran. 

 

The strikes significantly degraded Iran’s anti-aircraft capabilities and thwarted planned missile attacks against Israeli civilian population centers.

Among the targets was a missile site near Tabriz, used by Iran’s surface-to-surface missile units and assessed as a launch point for planned large-scale attacks on Israel.

The IDF said the destruction of key air defense systems enabled Israeli aircraft to operate more freely over Iranian territory, expanding aerial superiority and reducing threats to both IAF planes and Israeli civilians.

The operation follows Israel’s June 2025 campaign targeting Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile infrastructure, which severely degraded Tehran’s air defense network and contributed to Israel’s ability to quickly establish effective control of the skies over key operational areas.

The military said operations remain ongoing, adding that Israel will continue efforts to degrade “every aspect of the Iranian regime.”

STATUE OF BRITAIN'S GREATEST PM DEFACED IN RESPONSE TO ATTACK ON IRAN

‘Zionist war criminal’ painted on Winston Churchill statue in London

Police have arrested a 38-year-old man who was spotted defacing the sculpture shortly after 4 a.m. 

 

JNS

Mar 1, 2026

 

 

 

 

The Metropolitan Police arrested a 38-year-old man on Jan. 27 on suspicion of defacing the statue of Winston Churchill outside Britain’s Houses of Parliament with paint that read, “Zionist war criminal,” among other phrases.

Churchill’s dark bronze figure was smudged in red graffiti. The phrases “Free Palestine” and “Stop the genocide” could be seen on it as well.

The Guardian cited a Met spokesperson as saying, “Shortly after 4 a.m. on Friday, a man was seen spraying graffiti on the statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square. The first officers were on the scene within two minutes. The man—who is 38—was arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated criminal damage. He remains in custody.”

A government spokesman told Sky News, “Churchill was a great Briton. This government will always stand up for our values, and the perpetrator must be held to account. We’re glad the police have made an arrest.”

Dutch group “Free the Filton 24” claimed responsibility for the vandalism, the report added.

The group is supportive of Palestine Action, the organization banned in the U.K. under anti-terrorism laws, but whose ban has since been struck down by the High Court of Justice. It remains in place pending the government’s appeal of the decision.

The number “24” stands for 24 Palestine Action activists charged over trespassing into a British facility belonging to Israeli defense firm Elbit Systems in 2024, according to Sky News.

The Dutch group posted a video on Instagram allegedly depicting the man who defaced the statue, the report continued. He was identified as Olax Outis.

JNS could not confirm the content of the video.

The Jewish Leadership Council said it was “disgusted” by the incident.

“In targeting the statue of a British hero who led this country in the fight against the Nazis, the perpetrator has found a perverse way to combine a hatred of Jews with a disdain for Britain,” it tweeted.

On Feb. 4, a London court acquitted six suspected Palestine Action activists of burglary, even though they confessed to breaking into a U.K. subsidiary of Elbit.

Prosecutors may seek a retrial for lesser charges, but the acquittal by a jury showed that Palestine Action may enjoy more leeway from the courts than from Parliament and the government.

'ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING AND EVIL' IS A PERFECT DESCRIPTION OF TUCKER CARLSON ..... WILL JD VANCE NOW FINALLY CONDEMN HIS JEW-HATING CLOSE FRIEND CARLSON?

Tucker Carlson Denounces Trump’s Iran Attack as ‘Absolutely Disgusting and Evil’

Carlson's criticism is notable as he recently visited the White House and has long warned against armed conflicts in the Middle East. 

 

By Joe DePaolo 

 

Mediaite

Feb 28, 2026

 

 

 

Tucker Carlson has come out strongly against the the U.S-Israel attack on Iran — ABC’s Jonathan Karl reports.

Karl posted a video to X, Saturday, in which he revealed that he reached out to Carlson for his take on President Donald Trump’s decision to attack. And Carlson was unsparing his assessment.

“Absolutely disgusting and evil,” Carlson said — according to Karl.

The criticism is particularly notable given that Carlson visited the White House just last week in an apparently effort to retain his influence with the president. Carlson has long warned of the dangers of another armed conflict in the Middle East.

Karl explained why he sought out Carlson’s take on the news.

“[Carlson is] just one person, a prominent one in Trump’s movement,” Karl said. “But this is a momentous and potentially defining or maybe redefining move for President Trump. He got into politics, in part, promising to end what he called forever wars. He was harshly critical of the war with Iraq. He claimed that he had always been against it. And now he finds himself starting what could be a major conflict with Iran.”

IRAN STRIKES BACK AS THE SUPREME LEADER AIN'T NO MO

Dubai's famous Burj Al Arab hotel ablaze after being 'hit by suicide drone' after Iranian kamikaze attacks on Palm Jumeirah and Bahrain skyscraper

 

By Robert Folker 

 

Daily Mail

Feb 28, 2026

 

 

Footage captured the moment the five-star Palm Jumeirah Fairmont Hotel was hit and set ablaze by an Iranian missile

 

Dubai's famous Burj Al-Arab hotel caught alight after being 'hit by an Iranian suicide drone' as Tehran launched UAV attacks on Western enclaves across the Middle East today in retaliation for US air strikes.

Footage showed the five-star hotel ablaze with Dubai authorities saying debris from an intercepted drone caused the fire at the city's famed luxury hotel.

Nearby four people were hurt at Dubai's popular Palm Jumeirah hotel  after being hit by a suicide drone launched from Iran hours after US and Israeli air strikes hit Tehran

Suicide drones also attacked residential skyscrapers in Bahrain, with missiles launched from Iran hitting US bases in Qatar, Kuwait and Abu Dhabi.

Dramatic footage and images captured the moment the Palm Jumeirah Fairmont Hotel in Dubai was hit by a Shahed drone, with an Iranian suicide drone also striking a tower block in Bahrain.

The Dubai media office confirmed four people were injured in the strikes on the hotel, which is popular among Western tourists, with witnesses saying ambulances had rushed to the scene.

'Dubai Civil Defence has confirmed that the resulting fire is now under control. Four individuals sustained injuries and have been transferred to medical facilities,' it added.

Video footage also showed the moment a high-rise building in Bahrain, believed to be the luxury apartment building Era View Tower, was struck by an Iranian suicide drone, hours after strikes targeted the major US naval base in the state.

A huge fireball erupted towards the top of the high-rise building, with debris scattering and falling onto the surrounding area below. It is not known at this stage if there are any casualties.

Iran also hit the US's Fifth Fleet headquarters in Manama, Bahrain, with a huge mushroom of smoke captured billowing into the sky following an explosion.

Dubai authorities said debris from an intercepted drone caused the fire at the city's famed luxury hotel 

 

Footage showed the Burj Al-Arab hotel ablaze after being 'targeted by an Iranian suicide drone'

Dubai authorities said debris from an intercepted drone caused the fire at the city's famed luxury hotel

The Palm Jumeirah Fairmont hotel was hit by a Shahed suicide drone launched from Iran hours after US and Israeli air strikes hit Tehran

Suicide drones also attacked residential skyscrapers in Bahrain

Smoke rises from a burning building in Bahrain, believed to be the luxury apartment building Era View Tower hit by an Iranian drone strike

Four people are said to have been injured in the attack, according to the Dubai media office, with witnesses stating ambulances rushed to the scene

A huge fireball erupted towards the top of the high-rise building, with debris scattering and falling onto the surrounding area below. It is not known at this stage if there are any casualties 

Smoke rises after Iran carried out a missile strike on the main headquarters of the US's 5th Fleet in Bahrain 

 

The US and Israel launched strikes on targets in several Iranian cities on Saturday, including the offices of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, sending explosions and plumes of smoke over the capital, Tehran. 

Israeli media outlet Channel 12 said unnamed Israeli sources revealed there were 'growing indications' the leader had been killed during this morning's air strikes or that he was 'hurt at the very least'.

Iran has so far launched revenge attacks across the region, with missile strikes in Israel, Kuwait, Qatar, UAE, Bahrain, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

Videos posted on social media show the famous Palm Jumeirah Fairmont Hotel - which is popular with tourists - on fire, with plumes of smoke billowing into the sky, something Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper condemned in a call with her Emirati counterpart.

The sheer speed of the missile - which is said to be able to fly at least five times faster than the speed of sound - can be heard on video footage cutting through the air before blasting into the hotel. 

Located a half-an-hour drive from Dubai International Airport, rooms at the opulent hotel average £292 a night, while guests wanting a more upmarket stay in the presidential suite can spend closer to £828 a night.

The hotel is located on Dubai's famed man-made island The Palm.

Hundreds of thousands of British nationals are currently thought to be present in the Gulf. 

British influencer Will Bailey, who has just landed in Dubai and was sitting poolside at the hotel, said: 'That was metres away from us. Look at this.

'That is the Fairmont hotel in Dubai. Oh my God, oh my God.'

He added: 'Oh my days, over the beach club is f****** mental. Literally directly above us. That is insane. They were so loud.

'I have no words. In the safest city in the world. Wow.'

Meanwhile Samantha, who lives in Dubai Hills, saw the missile pass over her head some 26km away from the hotel.

'It's panic. Total panic. I saw it passing above my head', she said, speaking to the Daily Mail. 'I'm stressed out because any one little part of a missile could come on top of our building.'

And with the United Arab Emirates having said it has now 'partially and temporarily' closed its airspace as a precaution, according to state media, Brits trying to flee the country have found themselves stuck. 

One such passenger was forced off a plane from Dubai back to London just minutes after boarding as flights in and out of the Emirati nation were grounded.

Mike Boreham was on the British Airways flight 108 to Heathrow Airport with hundreds of others when the UAE came under fire from retaliatory Iranian missiles.

He told The Independent: 'We were all boarded. The flight is completely full.

'About ten minutes after the "boarding complete" announcement, we were told airspace is closed.'

The UAE evacuated the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, amid the attacks, Turkiye Today reported, as all flights in and out of Dubai have been cancelled.

After the UAE's airspace was closed, many flights heading to Dubai were forced to return to their starting points.

Services by Emirates from Dublin, Turkish Airlines to Istanbul and LOT Polish Airlines to Warsaw were all grounded as the country locked down.

Many major airlines have similarly cancelled or diverted flights to and from the Middle East amid safety concerns.

Bosses at Heathrow Airport, which is the UK's busiest air terminus, have urged passengers to check with their airline for updates. 

The British Foreign Office's travel guidance for Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Oman now advises travellers to 'remain vigilant, follow local authority advice and take shelter if advised'.

It has also warned against all travel to Israel and Palestine and has urged Brits already in other Middle Eastern countries to 'immediately shelter in place'.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said: 'Due to the threat posed by escalation in the region, we recommend against all travel to Israel and Palestine.

'On February 28, 2026, the US and Israel commenced joint military action in Iran. Israeli airspace has now closed.'

British nationals in the region have been urged to take 'sensible precautions', including following advice from local authorities, staying away from military facilities and making sure their travel documents are up to date.

Any people from the UK in Bahrain, the UAE, Qatar and Kuwait have also been advised to immediately shelter in place.

The update read: 'Remain indoors in a secure location, avoid all travel and follow instructions from the local authorities.'

Israeli sources said today that President Donald Trump specifically targeted Iran's supreme leader in its first wave of joint missile strikes with Israel.

Both Khamenei's palace and compound in Tehran are reported to have been destroyed in today's operation.

Two Israeli television networks said Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump were shown the image after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's body was recovered from the rubble of his compound. 

It comes after Israel's Prime Minister had said in a televised address on Saturday evening that 'there are signs' that Iran's Supreme Leader is dead.

Netanyahu said airstrikes have destroyed Khamenei's compound, adding that 'all indications show this tyrant is no longer with us'.

However, Iran's Foreign Ministry said earlier this evening that the Supreme Leader and the country's president were both alive and well.

'They are all safe and sound,' a spokesperson told Sky News.

Video footage from Tehran shows smoke billowing into the sky above Khamenei's compound this morning, which is understood to be used as his official residence in the Iranian capital.

'Senior Israeli officials were informed of Khamenei's elimination,' reported public broadcaster Kan. 

Screams and giggles could be heard ringing out from a nearby rooftop as onlookers watched the blast. 'Oh my God they hit it. They struck it. Oh my God,' one woman shouts.

It comes after it was reported that the head of Iran's Revolutionary Guard and 'architect' of the regime's brutal crackdown against protesters is already said to have been killed in the strikes.

Israeli sources said they believed that IRGC commander General Mohammad Pakpour has been eliminated, adding that several senior military officials are understood to have been killed.

Elsewhere, a wave of US and Israeli strikes also hit Bushehr, Qom, Karaj, Kermanshah, Isfahan and southern Lebanon, targeting Hezbollah infrastructure and an area said to be housing Iran-supporting militia groups in al-Nasr, Iraq.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump told the Ayatollah to either 'surrender or die' as he announced the US had launched strikes across several cities in Iran.

He said: 'To the members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, the armed forces and all of the police, I say tonight that you must lay down your weapons and have complete immunity.

'Or in the alternative, face certain death. So, lay down your arms. You will be treated fairly with total immunity, or you will face certain death.'

Iran said there would be a 'crushing response' and launched missiles across Israel including in Tel Aviv, Haifa and Jerusalem.

In a statement, the country's military said that all US 'bases, resources and assets' are 'legitimate targets'.

Dramatic footage showed the moment Iran hit the US's Fifth Fleet headquarters in Manama, Bahrain, with a huge mushroom of smoke billowing into the sky following an explosion.

Iran also targeted US infrastructure at Al Dhafra Air Base in the UAE, Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait, Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar and areas in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, sparking fears the Middle East may now be on the brink of all-out war.

Explosions have also been heard in the Syrian city of Damascus and in the city of Sidon in southern Lebanon, apparently as a result of Israeli missile interceptions.

The Operation has been named 'Lion's Roar' by Israel and 'Epic Fury' by the US Department of Defense, which Trump has renamed the Department of War. 

 

People take cover from incoming missiles fired from Iran at an undergoing train station in Tel Aviv

Israelis taking shelter at an underground train station as they prepare for retaliatory missile strikes

An image shows smoke billowing from a building after an explosion in Tehran, Iran, on Saturday morning

 

It is understood that the UK did not participate in the attacks, and Sir Keir Starmer said Iran must 'refrain from indiscriminate military strikes' in a joint statement with the leaders of France and Germany, condemning the country's attacks on its neighbours.

UK citizens have been urged to shelter by the British embassy in Doha, while Qatar also warned residents via an alert to stay indoors and away from military bases.

The UK withdrew its diplomatic staff from Iran on Friday due to security worries, while staff in the British embassy in Tel Aviv and their dependents have been moved to another location by the Foreign Office. 

The UK Government said its priority is 'the safety of UK nationals' in the Middle East but that it is 'ready to protect our interests'.

A Government spokesperson said: 'Iran must never be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon and that is why we have continually supported efforts to reach a negotiated solution.

'Our immediate priority is the safety of UK nationals in the region and we will provide them with consular assistance, available 24/7.

'As part of our longstanding commitments to the security of our allies in the Middle East, we have a range of defensive capabilities in the region, which we have recently bolstered. We stand ready to protect our interests.

'We do not want to see further escalation into a wider regional conflict.'

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said she supported the strikes on Iran, describing the Tehran government as a 'vile regime' that 'carries out attacks on the UK and on our citizens', sought to build nuclear weapons and 'brutally repressed pro-democracy protests only months ago and murdered thousands of its own people'. 

Meanwhile, Iran's exiled Prince Reza Pahlavi has urged Iranians to prepare for an uprising and to take to the streets in the midst of the Islamic Republic's collapse. 

He warned civilians to stay at home for now and to prepare to mobilise, ready for his instructions. 

Describing the US's attacks as 'humanitarian intervention', he reminded security forces they had sworn to protect the Iranian people and not IS and its leaders. 

He urged that if they did not switch sides, they would 'sink' alongside the current regime and Supreme Leader Khamenei. 

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also warned the Iranian regime 'must not be armed with nuclear weapons'. 

'My brothers and sisters, citizens of Israel, a short time ago, Israel and the United States embarked on an operation to remove the existential threat posed by the terrorist regime in Iran. 

He said the regime had 'spilled our blood', and 'murdered many Americans, and massacred its own people'. 

 

Israelis run for cover after Iran unleashed retaliatory strikes in the country 

People run for cover following explosions in Tehran on Saturday 

A man looks on as a plume of smoke rises following a reported explosion in Tehran 

An image shows smoke billowing from a building after an explosion in Tehran, Iran, on Saturday morning

 

'This murderous terrorist regime must not be armed with nuclear weapons that would allow it to threaten all of humanity,' he said. 

'Our joint action will create the conditions for the courageous Iranian people to take their destiny into their own hands.

'The time has come for all segments of the Iranian people - the Persians, the Kurds, the Azeris, the Baluchis, and the Ahwazis - to throw off the yoke of tyranny and bring about a free and peaceful Iran.

'Together we will stand, together we will fight, and together we will ensure the eternity of Israel.'

In Tehran, witnesses heard the first blast by Khamenei's office on Saturday morning. Iranian state television later reported the explosion, without offering a cause.

There have also been unverified reports of explosions in other locations across Iran including Isfahan, the third biggest city, and Tabriz.

More explosions struck Iran's capital after Israel said it was attacking the country. Authorities have offered no casualty information from the strikes.

Meanwhile, Iran shut down its airspace and mobile phone services were cut as internet access dropped by over half, according to NetBlocks.

Israel has warned its own citizens to prepare to take cover if the Iranians fight back, with sirens already being heard across Israel.

The country's Defense Force said: 'This is a proactive alert to prepare the public for the possibility of missiles being launched toward the State of Israel.'

Airspace above Israel was closed to civilian flights following the strike this morning.

The explosions come as tensions rose between Iran and the United States over Tehran's nuclear programme. 

Earlier today, Trump denounced the regime as the 'world's number one stage sponsor of terror', which had recently killed 'tens of thousands of its own people as they protested'. 

'It has always been the police of the United States, in particular my administration, that this terrorist regime can never have a nuclear weapon,' the US president added.

 

Rubble and destroyed buildings in Tehran after the US and Israel launches strikes on the city on February 28, 2026

Smoke billows into the sky of Tehran after Israel launches a second wave of airstrikes on February 28, 2026

A woman runs with her dog for shelter in Haifa, northern Israel after the US and Israel launch strikes on Iran

 

'I will say it again. They can never have a nuclear weapon.'

'This regime will soon learn that no one should challenge the strength and might of the US armed forces,' he later added. 

He then turned his address to the 'great proud people of Iran', saying that their 'hour of freedom' was at hand. 

Warning them to stay sheltered and at home, he urged them to 'take' their government after the US operation is over.  

'This will probably be your only chance for generations,' he said. 'For many years, you have asked for America's help, but you never got it.'

'No president was willing to do what I was willing to do tonight. Now you have a president who is willing to give you what you want.

'So let's see how you respond. America is backing you with overwhelming strength and devastating force. 

'Now is the time to seize control of your destiny and unleash the prosperous and glorious future that is in your reach. 

'This is the moment for action. Do not let it pass. May god bless the brave men and women of America's armed forces. 

'May god bless the United States of America. May god bless you all.'

IN PRAISE OF TRUMP

Trump’s courageous decision to face Tehran head-on

More kicking the can down the road, appeasing Tehran’s nuclear program, missiles and its relentless quest for terror, is not an option. The reality is that the regime must go. 

 

By Jonathan S. Tobin 

 

JNS

Feb 28, 2026

 

 

An “NBC News” live feed airs a clip from U.S. President Donald Trump's Truth Social video announcement in the White House James S. Brady Press Briefing Room in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 28, 2026. He announced that the United States and Israel had launched an attack on Iran Saturday morning.

 

The strongest argument that President Donald Trump’s political opponents can muster to decry his decision to order American forces to join with Israel to act against Iran is that he is launching a “war of choice,” rather than seeking to avert an imminent threat to American interests or security. Even his sternest critics, such as the editorial page of The New York Times, acknowledged that the government of Iran is not merely a brutal oppressor and a constant threat to the rest of the Middle East as well as to the West, but also combines a “murderous ideology with nuclear ambitions.”

Every U.S. president for the last quarter-century has asserted that America will never let Iran get a nuclear weapon and was prepared to use force to prevent that from happening. But only Trump seems to have fully grasped the stark nature of the threat that Tehran poses to the United States—and the world.

Halfway measures won’t work

And now, after last year’s U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran’s nuclear program, followed by a renewed effort at diplomacy that predictably failed due to the Islamists’ intransigence, he has faced up to the choice that the West has always confronted with respect to Iran. The Iranian threat cannot be ignored, reasoned with or appeased. It cannot be pressured through sanctions or bribed, as former President Barack Obama once put it, “to get right with the world.” Halfway measures that combine threats of force with elements of other approaches also won’t work.

Since they seized power 47 years ago, leaders of the Islamic Republic have been animated by one big idea—a religious war to the death against the non-Islamic world. Their slogans of “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” are not talking points or empty rhetoric. They are the essential purpose of the regime’s existence. Iran is the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism. It is responsible for numerous attacks on Western and American attack, as well as for helping to foment and organize the genocidal war waged against Israel by its main terrorist auxiliaries and allies: Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis.

And that is why Trump’s willingness to declare his intention to topple the Islamist regime is not so much a “war of choice” as one of necessity. It has been put off for decades by his predecessors, who lacked the vision or the will to see that the West simply cannot allow a government whose aim is to spread terror and intimidate America and its allies to continue to carry out those threats.

In the end, it will be up to the Iranian people, who have in recent months taken to the streets to protest their oppressors and been slaughtered by them in the tens of thousands, to seize control in Tehran. Neither the United States nor Israel seeks to occupy Iran or impose a government on it. It is hoped that some regime elements will conclude that Iran must change and work with protesters to end the long Islamist reign of terror there. But both nations are entirely in the right in acting to strip this murderous regime of its military hardware and facilities that would fulfill its ambitions for weapons of mass destruction, as well as to take out its criminal leaders.

Undoing the mistakes of his predecessors

Seen in that context, Trump’s bold move is neither reckless nor an invitation to another “forever” war to bog down American forces and drain them of their ability to resist aggression elsewhere in the world. It is, instead, a long-put-off and entirely necessary action designed to prevent the Islamic regime from continuing its destructive and bloody war on the West.

If there is anything the world should have come to understand in the last 47 years, it is that there is no living with a regime wedded to a generational jihad against all those who do not share its medieval religious fanaticism, including Western nations, Israel and Arab nations who want no part of this mad quest. Nothing short of its overthrow will be enough to stop its long-running campaign first to destroy Israel and then the West.

That is a stark truth that the Western and American foreign-policy establishment has spent the last few decades trying to ignore.

Former President George W. Bush, distracted by his unsuccessful wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, prevaricated on Iran, leaving the problem to his successors. Obama sought to appease Tehran. His 2015 nuclear pact actually guaranteed that the regime would get a nuclear weapon rather than preventing it. That empowered and enriched the mullahs, thus increasing the Islamist regime’s ability to inflict terror and instability throughout the Middle East, and to advance its quest for regional hegemony. Former President Joe Biden ineffectively sought to revive that same failed policy.

In his first term, Trump correctly understood that sooner or later, an American leader was going to have to face up to the disaster that Obama had created. He abandoned the nuclear deal in May 2018 and sought, via a “maximum pressure” campaign of sanctions, to force Tehran to understand that it must not only abandon its nuclear quest but its war on the West and Israel as well. The religious fanatics who run Iran might never have surrendered their ambitions, and we will never know if that approach would have succeeded had Trump been re-elected in 2020. Biden’s decision to return to Obama’s disastrous policies and effectively end sanctions ensured that diplomacy would never succeed in dealing with the threat. And then, the spectacle of America’s disastrous and rapid retreat from Afghanistan in August 2021 helped convince Tehran that the United States was too weak and feckless to resist it.

Those colossal blunders led directly to Iran’s renewed push to dominate the Middle East and eliminate all obstacles to that goal. The Hamas-led, Palestinian-Arab terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, were the most obvious result of Biden’s retreat.

The subsequent war, however, didn’t work out as Iran’s “supreme leader” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei thought it would.

Israel was unprepared and badly damaged on Oct. 7. But despite the efforts of the Biden administration to hamstring its war of self-defense against Hamas in Gaza and Iran’s Hezbollah auxiliaries in Lebanon, which started attacking from the north on Oct. 8, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the IDF persevered, and the terrorists weren’t granted impunity for their crimes. That happened amid an international propaganda campaign on social media, in city streets and on college campuses aimed at demonizing the Jewish state. Though Hamas was allowed to survive in part of the Strip and should not be left in place, it is badly weakened. Just as important, Hezbollah and its arsenal, which was long thought to be too strong for Israel to challenge, suffered devastating defeats in 2024.

That, in turn, led to the fall of the Syrian government—led by longtime dictator and Iran ally Bashar Assad—in December of that same year.

A historic opportunity

These catastrophic reversals of fortune also had the effect of reviving efforts by the majority of the Iranian people, who oppose its repressive regime, to take to the streets these past two months and seek an end to the mullahs’ tyranny. The subsequent mass murder of civilians again illustrated to the world the necessity of no longer tolerating or enabling these Islamist oppressors. The weakness of its rulers, along with the 12-day joint U.S.-Israel military offensive that degraded three nuclear sites last June, gave Washington the chance to make history and change the direction of the Middle East from one dominated by Iranian terror to one where reason can prevail.

Still, Trump gave diplomacy another try, sending his Mideast envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to meet with Iran’s representatives and attempt to work out a deal that would, unlike Obama’s pact, actually end the nuclear threat and avoid more fighting.

But rather than choosing to take advantage of this offer, the regime behaved as it has always done—refusing to seriously negotiate while clinging to its “right” to have a nuclear program and refusing to discuss its missiles or terrorism. While their delaying tactics worked like a charm on Obama and his envoys, who eventually bowed to all of Iran’s major demands, Trump was having none of it.

As with so much of what Trump has done with respect to Israel, this again proves that it is the president—and not his liberal and left-wing critics—who grasps the hardcore realities of the region. Putting off a confrontation that strips the Islamist regime of its ability to go on threatening the world hasn’t worked. Drastic action that will topple the mullahs can no longer be put off.

Trump’s opponents and those who have been cheering on the war Tehran was waging on Israel and the West speak of the unintended consequences of this conflict and how they may undermine American interests. But what he is doing is merely a long-postponed push to cope with the consequences of past efforts to appease Iran that led to so much spilled blood. That was the result of Washington following the establishment thinking that Trump has rightly rejected.

A fight to defend American interests

This is no rerun of Bush’s Iraq war. Nor has Trump failed to make the case for dealing with the Islamist regime. Like those who pushed for ceasefires after Oct. 7, the failure to finish off the government that has been waging war on the West and Israel throughout its existence has brought continued war rather than peace.

Nor, despite the claims of the conspiracy theorists and antisemites that increasingly dominate the conversation on both the left and the far right, is this a war that Jerusalem has pushed Washington into waging. Iran’s efforts to annihilate the State of Israel and aid global entities intent on slaughtering Jews are reason enough to make the regime’s end a desirable goal. But in confronting a government that has never wavered from its pursuit of a war on the West, Trump is defending the interests of the United States and its citizens. An evil terrorist regime armed with nukes and missiles is a direct threat to Americans and the civilized world. Throughout its history, it has never hesitated to kill innocents or to seek to harm allies of the United States.

Apologists for Iran and its genocidal goals—on both the left and the right, whether motivated by hatred for Trump or Israel—are outraged by Washington’s decision. It is possible, as some fear, that failure in Iran will boost these destructive forces. But defeat is not an option for the United States, Israel or the West. One way or another, the Iranian regime cannot be allowed to go on terrorizing the world. It must be defeated, and then hopefully replaced, with one that will forsake the nukes, missiles and terror that far too long rendered it an outlaw rogue state.

Trump has shown that he dares to defy the conventional wisdom that the Washington liberal establishment has used to justify inaction or appeasement of Iran. As he did when he moved the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, pulled out of the disastrous nuclear deal with Iran, brokered the Abraham Accords and then joined with Israel to inflict grave damage last summer on Tehran’s nuclear program, the president is again correct to refuse to listen to his critics. Though the path ahead will present grave challenges and dangers the administration and its Israeli allies must successfully navigate, the decision to strike—and to topple the mullahs—was both wise and necessary.

WHAT COMES NEXT?

A turning point in the world

Sirens in Israel signal not panic but hope for a region no longer dominated by the Iranian regime's imperial ambition. 

 

By Fiamma Nirenstein 

 

JNS 

Feb 28, 2026

 

 

People take cover from incoming missiles fired from Iran at an undergoing train station in Tel Aviv, Feb. 28. 2026.

 

The Shabbat sirens sent Israelis into shelters again and again, yet the atmosphere remained composed, almost resolved. The Israeli public understands that history sometimes accelerates suddenly, and that when it does, hesitation becomes more dangerous than action.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu framed the moment in stark terms: Israel is confronting a regime that for decades has killed Americans, shed Jewish blood and brutalized its own citizens, while striving for nuclear capability. The objective of this war is therefore not tactical but historical. It aims to end a permanent threat.

This is what many observers fail to grasp. The American aircraft flying alongside Israeli jets above Tehran represent more than a military maneuver—they sketch a future Middle East no longer dominated by Iranian imperial ambition. Remove the permanent menace and diplomacy becomes possible, because negotiation without coercion can finally exist.

U.S. President Donald Trump could have delayed, accepted another partial nuclear arrangement, or relied on the Iranian regime’s promises regarding enriched uranium. Instead, he concluded that the danger had reached strategic clarity. The choice was not imposed by immediate necessity but by long-term responsibility: a decisive shift rather than endless postponement.

Iran’s power rests on a web—Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis and other proxies—combined with missiles and nuclear ambition aimed far beyond Israel. Ending that network reshapes global security, not merely regional stability. Israel functions as the forward shield, but the consequences reach Europe, the Gulf and beyond.

The reaction across the Middle East already reflects this. States long threatened by Tehran quietly align. A broader architecture emerges—from the Gulf to India and the Eastern Mediterranean—built on shared interests rather than shared fear. Even global rivalries, including Russia’s reliance on Iranian weapons, feel the tremor.

Europe hesitates, speaking the language of concern rather than judgment. Yet history rarely offers moral symmetry.

The Iranian people themselves show the clearest understanding, risking their lives to celebrate blows against their oppressors. Their courage exposes the true dividing line.

They too applaud the Israeli strike on Saturday that killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 86, the cruel leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran since 1989.

This moment is therefore exceptional: nations acting not merely for advantage but to dismantle a system of intimidation and fear. Recognition may come slowly. But the possibility of a freer Middle East and a new world has already appeared. Once visible, it cannot easily disappear.

LANDLORDS PISSED OFF AT MAMDANI'S DIRECTOR OD MAYOR'S OFFICE TO PROTECT TENANTS

NYC landlords fire back at ‘racist’ Mamdani aide’s claim that ties homeownership to ‘White supremacy’

Socialist housing official Cea Weaver previously said property should be treated as a 'collective good'

 

By Nikolas Lanum  

 

Fox News

Feb 28, 2026

 

 

Mamdini and Cea Weaver

 

New York City landlords are sharply criticizing remarks from a top housing official in Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration who previously linked homeownership to white supremacy, calling the comments “racist” and dismissive of immigrant property owners.

Cea Weaver, a longtime housing activist and member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), was tapped by Mamdani to be his director of the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants.

Speaking about housing policy and equity in a March 2021 DSA video, Weaver said, “For centuries we’ve really treated property as an individualized good and not a collective good, and we are going to…in transitioning to treating it as a collective good and towards a model of shared equity, will require that we think about it differently.”

“Families, especially White families, but some POC families who are homeowners as well, are going to have a different relationship to property than the one that we currently have,” she added.

Weaver also faced backlash for a 2019 tweet where she wrote, “private property including and kind of ESPECIALLY homeownership is a weapon of White supremacy masquerading as ‘wealth building’ public policy.”

Weaver’s statement drew the attention of Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon, who told Fox News that the “Civil Rights Division of the DOJ is on high alert as to the radical agenda promised by Mayor Mamdani, much of which is at odds with our federal Constitutional and civil rights norms.”

New York City small property owners who spoke with Fox News Digital say Weaver’s views are “insulting,” and paint landlords with a broad and unfair brush.

Jan Lee, a third-generation Chinatown property owner and board member of the Small Property Owners of New York (SPONY), said Weaver’s comments ignore both history and the lived experiences of immigrant landlords.

 

 

Jan Lee previously told Fox News Digital many immigrant landlords came to America to escape socialist and communist countries.

“I think that the true socialist views toward housing and taking housing away from people like myself is the racist element in this,” Lee said. “I think when you start to lump all of us together and say that we’re all the bad thing that’s keeping people out of housing, that’s racist. We’re right out of the gate in this administration, starting off with extreme hostility for property owners.”

Lee emphasized his family’s deep roots in the city, noting that his family has been housing providers in New York City since the early 1900s.

He pushed back forcefully on the notion that property ownership equates to White supremacy, pointing to the history of immigrant communities striving and struggling to acquire a piece of the American dream.

“I think comments from a White woman individual who’s now in this seat of government saying that home ownership is some form of White superiority hasn’t lived the life of my family and many of the families who are small property owners of New York who are not White,” Lee said. “Black owners were barred from owning property. There were laws made against Chinese about Japanese Americans in the United States for owning property, so to say that owning property is a form of White supremacy is completely, completely out of line.”

“And it denies the history that many people of color have had to leave. It’s very insulting when you have the privilege that she has to sit there and say these things in 2026 without understanding that when my family bought our properties, the Chinese Exclusion Act existed. We weren’t even allowed to come into this country,” he continued.

The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was the first major U.S. federal law to ban a specific ethnic group, Chinese laborers, from immigrating to the U.S. It suspended immigration for 10 years and denied citizenship to Chinese residents. It was not repealed until 1943.

Ann Korchak, board president of SPONY, echoed Lee’s concerns and called the rhetoric divisive.

“I think that language like that is insulting,” Korchak said. “[Weaver] should come to a SPONY meeting and she would be blown away by the diversity of our organization.”

“New York has a rich tradition of immigrants kind of reaching the American dream through property ownership,” she said. “So many of our members and others who don’t even know that we exist came to America because they didn’t have rights in wherever they came from. Owning property is something that was unattainable to them from where they came,” Korchak said.

“To say that it’s racist to own property is an insult to every single immigrant who ever came here,” she added.

In a January statement announcing Weaver’s appointment, Mamdani said, “You cannot hold landlords who violate the law to account unless you have a proven, principled and tireless fighter at the helm. That is why I am proud today to announce my friend Cea Weaver as the Director of the newly reinvigorated Mayor’s office to protect tenants.”

Weaver said last year that she found her past comments about homeownership and White supremacy “regretful” but, according to the New York Post, stopped short of an apology.

“I think that some of those things are certainly not how I would say things today, and are regretful,” she told NY1. “I do think my sort of decades of experience fighting for more affordable housing sort of stands on its own.”

Lee argued that anti-landlord rhetoric from the Mamdani administration negatively impacts both housing providers and tenants, leaving renters at the mercy of large corporations.

“I think that working face-to-face with real property owners, understanding who they are, their value to the community, and what will keep them in the community is more important than starting off with someone who is vitriolic, who’s very hateful toward property owners and actually sees property ownership through a very narrow myopic lens [and] can only hurt tenants and property owners themselves,” she said.

He also alluded to broader consequences if small landlords are pushed out.

“If you really care about the tenancy and the quality of life of tenants in New York City, particularly those people who are people of color, you should not want small property owners, particularly people who have been embedded in the community for a long time, to leave,” Lee said.

As the Mamdani administration begins shaping its housing agenda, comments from landlords highlight an early and pointed divide between City Hall’s tenant-focused leadership and the city’s small property owners.

According to Korchak, small property owners feel unfairly targeted by rhetoric they believe oversimplifies a complex housing crisis and disregards the immigrant experience.

She also noted that immigrant families in her organization see property ownership as the culmination of years of sacrifice.

“Either immigrants or children of immigrants, grandchildren of immigrants know the sacrifice that either they made themselves or their parents or grandparents made to buy a piece of property,” she said. “To be just shot down and criticized for their desire to do that is grossly unfair.”

Weaver and the mayor’s office did not return Fox News Digital’s request for comment.