Iran ; explosions across Tehran following Israeli and US strikes, 28 February 2026

[GatorsNorth]

Would I get into trouble for pointing out that he dealt with Stalin!

Sir Winston was tough!! MOO

 

[imstilla.grandma]

The Iranian regime is a notoriously complex web of council bodies, and power flows down from the supreme leader, who sets national policies, appoints heads of the armed forces and oversees the president. The supreme leader is elected by Iran's so-called Assembly of Experts, a body of 88 elected jurists who, in theory, oversee the supreme leader, though it’s unclear if they’ve ever exercised any meaningful checks.

In the wake of Khamenei’s death, the country is currently being led by a three-person leadership council: President Masoud Pezeshkian, Chief Justice Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei and a member of the Guardian Council, Ayatollah Alireza Arafi.

When asked Tuesday about who will step into Iran's new leadership, U.S. President Donald Trump suggested that "someone from within" the Iranian regime might be the best choice to take power once the U.S.-Israeli campaign is complete.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/iran-regime-explained-9.7112753

 

[Arkay]

I thought the Iranian people on the street had been begging for the support of the USA.

Yes, and there are 30,000 more Iranians who’d be dancing in the streets if they hadn’t been murdered by Iran for protesting in those streets against the regime and the Supreme Leader.

I so wish they could have lived to rejoice at their victory.

JMO

 

[MassGuy]

<modsnip: Quoted post was removed>

Dozens of countries recognize Hamas as a terrorist organization, to include the entire European Union.

Rapists, suicide bombers, and hostage takers, are not the good guys. They are not "freedom fighters."

"Freedom fighters" do not walk into homes, rape women, kill parents in front of their children, and laugh as kids are screaming, begging for their lives. <modsnip>

Concern about nuclear weapons, drones, and ballistic missiles have nothing to do with religious beliefs.

<modsnip>

 

[PrairieWind]

I would love to see Churchill dealing with Trump.

Churchill was a man of action. I think Winston would be on Trump's side here.

 

[GatorsNorth]

Dozens of countries recognize Hamas as a terrorist organization, to include the entire European Union.

Rapists, suicide bombers, and hostage takers, are not the good guys. They are not "freedom fighters."

"Freedom fighters" do not walk into homes, rape women, kill parents in front of their children, and laugh as kids are screaming, begging for their lives. <modsnip>

Concern about nuclear weapons, drones, and ballistic missiles have nothing to do with religious beliefs.

<modsnip>

MOO. Back in the days before nukes, drones and missiles, this conflict would have been called the Crusades. JMO

 

[Charlot123]

My favorite from your article …

Israel Iran War Live Updates: Israel Hacked Iran Traffic Cameras For Years To Pinpoint Khaemnei Location Prior To Strike​

A news report from the London based Financial Times has revealed a long term plan hatched by Israel's spy agencies that led to the targeted killing of Iran's erstwhile supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei and members of the top echelon of Iran's military.

According the Financial Times which cited multiple sources, Israel spent years hacking Tehran's traffic cameras and gaining access to mobile phone networks to monitor the movements of Khamenei and his security detail. Nearly all traffic cameras in Tehran had been hacked for years, with footage encrypted and transmitted to servers. The hack allowed the Israeli and American forces to pinpoint Khamenei's location leading to his elimination in a targeted strike.

Now what?

As everywhere, there are some people in Iran who hated him, but also, religious people who probably venerated their religious leader, one of Mohammed's descendants (a Said). So unless we are prepared to offer them someone 100% better, situations like this are pregnant with getting someone worse.

Give or take, all US leaders tried to keep up ties with the Middle East. It is a source of cheap oil, it is a place to tourism. Mostly, they haven't been bothering us.

 

[PrairieWind]

MOO. Back in the days before nukes, drones and missiles, this conflict would have been called the Crusades. JMO

Except this is an effort to return control to a nation TO other Muslim people. How is this in any way like the Crusades?

 

[Sundog]

Yes, and there are 30,000 more Iranians who’d be dancing in the streets if they hadn’t been murdered by Iran for protesting in those streets against the regime and the Supreme Leader.

I so wish they could have lived to rejoice at their victory.

JMO

I was listening to an interview on the radio while driving yesterday, it was with a member of the Iranian Parliament in exile, Ali Safavi (he's been in exile for 50 years), now a member of the National Council of Resistance of Iran.

He spoke about the 30,000 Iranians who were murdered by the regime and others before them who are not alive to rejoice at their victory. He said that "it's a bittersweet moment that all of those who gave their lives are not with us" as we celebrate this momentous time where we see hope for a democratic republic of Iran.

BBM

 

[Wishbone]

Iran denies targeting Saudi oil facility

Tehran’s deputy foreign minister, Majid Takht-Revanchi rejected claims that Iran attacked Saudi oil infrastructure following reports of a fire after shrapnel from two intercepted drones fell on the country’s giant Ras Tanura oil refinery.

https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/02/world/video/iran-denies-targeting-saudi-oil-ldn-digvid

 

[Arkay]

dbm duplicate

I was listening to an interview on the radio while driving yesterday, it was with a member of the Iranian Parliament in exile, Ali Safavi (he's been in exile for 50 years), now a member of the National Council of Resistance of Iran.

He spoke about the 30,000 Iranians who were murdered by the regime and others before them are not alive to rejoice at their victory. He said that "it's a bittersweet moment that all of those who gave their lives are not with us" as we celebrate this momentous time where we see hope for a democratic republic of Iran.

BBM

Thank you for this info, @Sundog.

I believe that their heroic protests played a big part in preparing the way for the people to rise up. Such sacrifice needs to be rewarded, even though they can no longer benefit. Hopefully their friends and families will reap the rewards.

To echo MLK Jr. “Let freedom ring!”

 

[Charlot123]

Maybe for the majority of Americans, but not to us in NYC. While 9/11 was not “combat” in the strictest sense, the human costs were ENTIRELY visible. I watched it with my own eyes. I saw the death of my friends. It took my daughter all day to get home and she brought some co-workers with her who couldn’t get home at all.

My students and colleagues were in hysteria all day because many had family who worked in the WTC. We most certainly ARE speaking of civilians.

I’d been to the WTC many times in the past, and since 9/11 I’ve been several times to the memorial.

I know Bin Laden was Saudi, not Iranian, but Iran has sponsored terror as well.

So I may not have witnessed the American Civil War, but what I did see that day WAS a war against America.

You watch people jumping from 100 stories up, you watch 220 stories of buildings collapse, you have dust and objects from the WTC land on your car and your terrace as I did, and you cannot say it is abstract for all of us.

My opinion because I lived through it.

How is Iran connected to bin Laden? Even remotely?

Come to think, even Saddham was unrelated to bin Laden at all. If anything, Iraq was the most secular state in the Middle East. What's there now? Is it better?

I just think that we, the US, have to clearly understand what are "our" interests in the Middle East. Oil? Right. We have access to it. The rest? The Middle East is a powderkeg and let it sort out own problems.

 

[MassGuy]

Iran denies targeting Saudi oil facility

Tehran’s deputy foreign minister, Majid Takht-Revanchi rejected claims that Iran attacked Saudi oil infrastructure following reports of a fire after shrapnel from two intercepted drones fell on the country’s giant Ras Tanura oil refinery.

https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/02/world/video/iran-denies-targeting-saudi-oil-ldn-digvid

Lol. They’ve attacked hotels, airports, apartment buildings, and Saudi oil facilities in the past. But not this time, or something.

They’re just scared the Saudis aren’t going to sit back and take it.

 

[Wishbone]

Lol. They’ve attacked hotels, airports, apartment buildings, and Saudi oil facilities in the past. But not this time, or something.

They’re just scared the Saudis aren’t going to sit back and take it.

Waiting to see if Iran denies attacking anything else......

 

[Elley Mae]

Targeting the Assembly is a strike that disrupts the succession process, and, more symbolically, it is a psychological strike at everything the Islamic Republic stands for.

Israeli strike hits symbolic heart of Iran's regime | The Jerusalem Post

Targeting the Assembly is a strike that disrupts the succession process, and, more symbolically, it is a psychological strike at everything the Islamic Republic stands for.

www.jpost.com

 

[Charlot123]

Maybe for the majority of Americans, but not to us in NYC. While 9/11 was not “combat” in the strictest sense, the human costs were ENTIRELY visible. I watched it with my own eyes. I saw the death of my friends. It took my daughter all day to get home and she brought some co-workers with her who couldn’t get home at all.

My students and colleagues were in hysteria all day because many had family who worked in the WTC. We most certainly ARE speaking of civilians.

I’d been to the WTC many times in the past, and since 9/11 I’ve been several times to the memorial.

I know Bin Laden was Saudi, not Iranian, but Iran has sponsored terror as well.

So I may not have witnessed the American Civil War, but what I did see that day WAS a war against America.

You watch people jumping from 100 stories up, you watch 220 stories of buildings collapse, you have dust and objects from the WTC land on your car and your terrace as I did, and you cannot say it is abstract for all of us.

My opinion because I lived through it.

Just to remind, this year New Yorkers voted for Mamdani. I doubt that they'll support the war with Iran. It is another generation.

 

[MassGuy]

Waiting to see if Iran denies attacking anything else......

They’ve denied everything, and claimed they are military targets in locations where such an idea is laughable.

This was predicted beforehand too, and a sign to watch for that they were desperate. The strategy is to convince the Gulf States to turn on Israel and the US.

We are not targeting our brothers or neighbours in the Persian Gulf. But we are targeting US targets, and this is clear,” Araghchi said on Tuesday.

“We started by attacking their military bases, and they evacuated their military bases and moved them to hotels and created human shields for themselves. We try to target military personnel, infrastructure and facilities helping the US and its army in launching operations against Iran.”

Is Iran expanding attacks to target energy and civilian sites in the Gulf?

Gulf countries have accused Iran of targeting civilian infrastructure such as hotels as tensions escalate in the region.

www.aljazeera.com

 

[Arkay]

How is Iran connected to bin Laden? Even remotely?

Come to think, even Saddham was unrelated to bin Laden at all. If anything, Iraq was the most secular state in the Middle East. What's there now? Is it better?

I just think that we, the US, have to clearly understand what are "our" interests in the Middle East. Oil? Right. We have access to it. The rest? The Middle East is a powderkeg and let it sort out own problems.

IMO the connection is the mandate that radical Islamists believe, that everyone must convert to Islam, all the “infidels,” and if not they should be wiped off the earth.

I don’t think the usual terror group flunkies are thinking about oil. That’s for the higher-ups. These guys are thinking “convert or die.”

IMO

 

[Yellowbelly]

Do you have any proof of religious fanatics in the US military?

Well, Hegseth himself is a member of a church with some rather 'robust' views.

What to know about the archconservative church Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth attends

The church network has connections to Christian nationalism and practices complementarianism, emphasizing traditional gender roles.

www.pbs.org

Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

This chap is a leading light in the above -

Douglas Wilson (theologian) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Elley Mae]

Newly released Osama Bin Laden document describes Iran, Al Qaeda link

The complicated relationship between the Sunni terror group and the Shiite republic included threats and kidnappings, but also cooperation.

www.nbcnews.com