The US and Israel kicked off a major joint military operation against Iran starting late February 2026. It is called Operation Epic Fury on the US side and Operation Roaring Lion for Israel. The strikes began on February 28 with a huge wave of airstrikes with hundreds in the first day alone hitting key targets like Iran’s air defenses missile sites nuclear facilities including damage at Natanz military bases navy assets and even top leadership. They took out Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and several high ranking IRGC commanders in what were called decapitation strikes.
By early March the campaign expanded to oil refineries and storage sites around Tehran and elsewhere causing big fires blackouts and disruptions. Over thousands of targets have been hit so far with the US and Israel claiming massive degradation of Iran’s missile arsenal nuclear program and overall military power. The stated goals are to eliminate Iran’s nuclear threat destroy its long range missiles and navy and push the regime toward collapse or change without a full ground invasion yet.
Iran hit back hard launching hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel with some getting through causing casualties and damage and also targeting US bases and allies in the Gulf. Oil prices shot up past $100 a barrel shipping through the Strait of Hormuz got messy and the conflict spread regionally with involvement from proxies in Lebanon Iraq and elsewhere.
Trump in his March 9 press conference called it a fast overwhelming success saying it is way ahead of schedule and could wrap up soon while boasting even Putin was impressed. But fighting continues with fresh strikes and no full ceasefire in sight. It is an intense air and missile war with huge global ripple effects.
