President Donald Trump’s new war with Iran is already rippling out across the Middle East, with the Islamic regime launching retaliatory strikes against U.S. allies in the region.
American and Israeli forces launched a concerted series of ongoing attacks against regime targets in the capital, Tehran, and other cities, including Qom, Kermanshah, Tabriz, Lorestan, Karaj, and Khorramabad, in the small hours of Saturday morning. The Defense Department has dubbed the campaign “Operation Epic Fury.”
The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps has now responded with what it describes as a “first wave” of missile and drone attacks against Israel. Further explosions have been heard in Qatar, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates, which all host strategically significant U.S. military bases.
Bahraini media outlets report that “the service center of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet” is now under missile attack, according to CNN. Qatari officials claim to have intercepted two Iranian rockets. Videos show smoke rising from buildings in Abu Dhabi, with the UAE having closed its airspace. Blasts have rocked the Qatari capital of Doha. U.S. embassies in Israel, the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and Jordan are advising American nationals across the region to shelter in place.
In the event of an all-out U.S. assault, the Iranian regime has in recent weeks threatened to target American military bases across the Middle East, as well as strike U.S. naval assets in the Persian Gulf and attack Israel directly.
Iranian officials have also warned they could disrupt shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital trade corridor, and activate allied militias in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen to carry out strikes against U.S. military assets throughout the region.
Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, wrote in a Feb. 20 letter to the organization’s Security Council that “all U.S. military bases, facilities, and assets in the region would constitute legitimate targets if the United States follows through on its military threats and attacks Iran.” He echoed similar sentiments from Iranian Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf earlier in January.
Iran has historically made good on its promises in the aftermath of previous American attacks. In 2020, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps injured 110 service personnel at the Al-Asad Air Base in Iraq following Trump’s assassination of the organization’s leader, Qasem Soleimani. Iranian forces also responded to the MAGA president’s attacks on the country’s nuclear facilities last June with a series of strikes against the Al Udeid Air Base in Iraq.
Residents in the Iranian capital of Tehran reported a series of explosions at approximately 10.30 a.m. on Saturday in the Pasteur neighborhood, where the presidential palace and national security council head offices are located.
Other targets appear to include offices of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the headquarters of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Explosions have also been heard in further cities like Qom, Kermanshah, Tabriz, Lorestan, Karaj, and Khorramabad. Israel has joined in the strikes.
The Guardian reports the attacks have already caused “a significant number of deaths.” Khamenei is not thought to be at his Tehran residence, with sources claiming he is in a “safe undisclosed location.” His officials have “vowed a crushing response” to what appears to be “the start of a full-scale military exchange, and not a limited US action.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House and Defense Department for comment on this story.
