New Delhi, Feb 28: A large scale war has erupted in the Middle East and engulfed several countries after the US and Israel launched attacks at Iran, which responded by targeting the Jewish nation as well as American military facilities in the region, including Qatar, Bahrain, UAE, Kuwait and Jordon.
More than 20 provinces of Iran were hit by the air attacks initiated by the US and Israel after weeks of talks on the Iranian nuclear issue failed to yield any successful outcome.
The targets of the US-Israeli attacks included the residences of Iran’s Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, President Masoud Pezeshkian and other top political and military leadership, besides military and nuclear facilities.
Hours after the launch of the attacks, Israel believed Khamenei may have been killed, according to Israeli media citing unnamed sources. There was, however, no official confirmation from any side.
The Iranian government said among the various locations hit by the US-Israeli bombings was an elementary school for girls, in which 40 children were killed and over 50 injured.
The bombardments were described as “pre-emptive attack” by the US and Israel under the codename ‘Operation Roaring Lions’.
US President Donald Trump, in a video message, said the US has begun “major combat operations” in Iran.
Trump asked the Iranian leaders to “lay down your arms” or “you will face certain death.”
He also encouraged the people of Iran to “take over your government — it will be yours to take.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also issued a statement, saying his country and the United States have launched an operation to remove the “existential threat posed by the terrorist regime in Iran”.
He said the operation would “create conditions for the Iranian people to take destiny into their own hands.”
Netanyahu also stated that Iran must not be allowed to arm itself with nuclear weapons.
Prior to that, Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz said, “The State of Israel launched a pre-emptive attack against Iran to remove threats to the State of Israel.”
The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) said they, along with the US Armed Forces, “launched a broad and joint operation to thoroughly degrade the Iranian terrorist regime and to remove existential threats to Israel over time.”
Shortly after being attacked, Iran began its counter-offensive, firing missiles and drones to target Israel as well as America’s Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait, Al Dhafra Air Base in UAE and the US Navy’s 5th Fleet base in Bahrain.
Iran’s top military institution, the Supreme National Security Council, said the country’s armed forces had “commenced a decisive response to these hostile acts” of the US and Israel.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) described the US and Israeli action as “brutal aggression of the Zionist regime against the Islamic Republic of Iran”.
It said Iran launched “the first wave of extensive missile and drone strikes” towards the “occupied territories” in “response to the aggression of the hostile and criminal enemy”.
The Iranian attacks at the US military bases in Qatar, Kuwait, UAE and Bahrain enraged governments of these nations, which slammed Tehran.
Saudi Arabia also slammed Iran for carrying out attacks on the countries of the region.
The latest attack on Iran came around 8 months after such an action by the US and Israel in June, resulting in a military confrontation lasting 12 days.
