February 28, 2026

2026 Iran war

The United States and Israel open a joint war against Iran

Within hours of the 1:15 a.m. strikes, the man who had held Iran's highest office for more than 36 years was dead — and a temporary leadership council was being formed.

28 February 2026, 1:15 a.m.: two operations, one campaign

U.S. Central Command commenced Operation Epic Fury at 1:15 a.m. on 28 February 2026, as Israel opened its coordinated Operation Roaring Lion. The strikes hit targets across Iran: Revolutionary Guard command facilities, air defenses, missile and drone launch sites, military airfields, government symbols and intelligence targets.

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed at his compound in Tehran — a strike later reporting attributed to Israel, reportedly timed to a meeting he was holding with senior aides. Iranian state media also reported the deaths of Revolutionary Guard commander Mohammad Pakpour and security adviser Ali Shamkhani.

Retaliation across the Gulf

Iran struck back the same day — and not only at Israel. Hundreds of missiles and drones in the first roughly twelve hours were directed at Israel and at U.S. installations in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar, with exchanges continuing into the night.

Iran also imposed restrictions in the Strait of Hormuz, and attacks on vessels were reported; commercial shipping sheltered or avoided the waterway as one of the world's critical energy chokepoints effectively stopped functioning normally. The sustained campaign against shipping developed over subsequent days and months, not all on the 28th.

Succession machinery, not collapse

Khamenei's death did not dissolve Iran's government: the state rapidly created an interim council to exercise the supreme leader's functions pending a successor, declared 40 days of state mourning and a 7-day public holiday. The AP reported both mourning flags at major shrines and some Tehran residents cheering from rooftops.

On war aims, precision matters: Trump publicly urged Iranians to take over their government and U.S. military material referred to dismantling the security apparatus, while Israel's formally stated objective was degrading long-term threats — the allies did not present one consistently stated joint objective. The conflict, and intermittent ceasefires, continued well beyond 28 February.

Sources

Researched 23 Aug 2026 6 sources 3 audit passes, 1 issue open

How this was checked

Researched from the web into a fact sheet, rewritten from that sheet, then audited against it by a different model. How the pipeline works →

What the sources leave uncertain

Early casualty reports varied substantially and should not be treated as final totals.
The opening campaign had overlapping but differently stated U.S. and Israeli objectives; whether regime change was an official joint war aim cannot be reduced to a single uncontested formulation.
Responsibility for individual strikes was sometimes unclear within the coordinated campaign. Later reporting attributed the strike that killed Khamenei to Israel.
The strait's effective closure began immediately, but the sustained campaign of attacks on shipping developed over subsequent days and months; it should not all be compressed into February 28.