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

[sds71]

Secy. Hegseth & Gen. Caine Hold Briefing on Iran

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth & Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Gen. Dan Caine brief reporters on combat operations against Iran.

www.c-span.org

 

[JennieM]

6m ago
Keir Starmer is planning to update Parliament on the Middle East crisis at 3.30pm.

The Prime Minister said:

I know the situation in the Middle East is worrying for British people in the region, and at home.

It’s my duty as Prime Minister to keep British people safe.

I will be answering questions on the steps we took over the weekend in Parliament.

Trump says Starmer took ‘far too much time’ to let US use UK bases for Iran attacks – UK politics live

Report says US president is ‘disappointed’ that Starmer didn’t initially agree to allow the US to use British bases for military attacks

www.theguardian.com

 

[JennieM]

Joint chiefs of staff chair says US expects 'to take additional losses' during Iran operations

Iranian strikes reported on Qatar and Saudi energy sites as US jets shot down by Kuwaiti 'friendly fire'

The US defense secretary says American attacks on Iran will not lead to "endless war". Meanwhile in Cyprus, two drones were intercepted near a UK base, after an earlier attack on Sunday.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[browneyes]

I suspect the flaw is that many in the US think they're the best country in the world, and therefore, no other country could have citizens who feel as strongly about their own. Patriotism or nationalism in other countries baffles them, I think, because there's this false narrative that everyone everywhere wants to be American and live in America, like everywhere else is somehow deficient. Whereas the fact is, there are plenty of people who live all over the world and love their country and wouldn't want to live anywhere else. Many political refugees in exile love their countries with a passion far beyond where they are settled, even though they know they can never return.

If you can't comprehend that other people other places love their countries, whatever their injustices, trials and troubles, then you're never going to understand the lengths they'll go to to defend it. And that's a flaw you can't have if you're going to go to war with them.

MOO

IMO, that is a totally unfair judgement regarding Americans. IMHO
I am saddened for every innocent life lost and feel this war was illegal and unnecessary. JMHO

 

[JennieM]

1m ago
Russian president Vladimir Putin held a phone call with King King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain on Monday, discussing “unprecedented escalation around Iran”, Russian state news agency TASS reported.

Putin said that Russia is ready to use ’all available means to stabilise the situation in the region,’ TASS reported.

Middle East crisis live: Kuwait mistakenly shoots down three US fighter planes, as US says Iran’s ‘reckless’ attacks threaten regional stability

Israeli military says fighting Iran-backed Hezbollah could take ‘many’ more days; US crew bailed out safely after crash-landing, says Kuwait

www.theguardian.com

 

[wendybtn]

What would be great is if we could come up with some sort of an agreement with Iran and a half dozen or so other countries where Iran agreed to restrict their uranium to below weapons-grade, reduce their uranium stockpile and centrifuges, and allow international inspectors regular access to monitor compliance. I dunno, might work

They were trying to do that. Iran wouldn't negotiate.

 

[Occam's Zebra]

I suspect the flaw is that many in the US think they're the best country in the world, and therefore, no other country could have citizens who feel as strongly about their own. Patriotism or nationalism in other countries baffles them, I think, because there's this false narrative that everyone everywhere wants to be American and live in America, like everywhere else is somehow deficient. Whereas the fact is, there are plenty of people who live all over the world and love their country and wouldn't want to live anywhere else. Many political refugees in exile love their countries with a passion far beyond where they are settled, even though they know they can never return.

If you can't comprehend that other people other places love their countries, whatever their injustices, trials and troubles, then you're never going to understand the lengths they'll go to to defend it. And that's a flaw you can't have if you're going to go to war with them.

MOO

Please remember you can't discuss a blurred post. Thank you
Huh?

Normally I appreciate your posts, but not this one.

I'm not sure what you mean by "many in the US" - there are >340 million people here, so to generalize any point of view doesn't make sense. And please don't use the actions of our "President" and his "Secretary of Defense" as being representative of Americans in general.

Of the last 7 US Presidential elections, 6 of them have been decided by a margin of less than 3% of the popular vote - which the US doesn't use to decide elections, but my point is that this is a country virtually split in half - at least by those who bother to vote.

The last poll I saw (with caveats of course because polls are not very representative) showed only about 25% of Americans polled supported the strikes on Iran, so there's stronger opinion against this probably-will-be-war than there is supporting it.

For sure, there are Americans who are provincial in their views that "Murica" is the best and only country worth fighting for. There also are a LOT of people who absolutely understand the serious flaws here in the US that are undermining our safety and quality of life. Some are doing whatever they can to move to another country because this one doesn't feel safe for them anymore. Most people I know are trapped between wanting to stay informed and having to dip out of the news cycle for mental health reasons.

We are exhausted over here, and frightened, and having our rights trampled on, and being abducted or shot by ICE for no reason, and sick of waking up to a new dumpster fire every day because our "President" is a narcissistic child with dementia who is unable to parse truth from fiction and whose daddy didn't love him enough so he needs to name the Kennedy Center after himself and redo an entire section of the White House that could cost $400 million. The people that could be helped with $400 million...and it's going to more gold leaf in the Oval Office and a (likely) garish new and pointless ballroom.

I miss the days where there weren't protests every single weekend.

I believe you're in Australia, and of course entitled to your opinion about a country on the other side of the world, but I don't see how it's helpful in this case.

IMHO MOO etc.Please remember you can't discuss a blurred post. Thank you

 

[Elley Mae]

Putin needs to mind his business. Stabilize the region? Get out of Ukraine.

 

[CrimeDawg123]

During the Iraq war when reading the newspaper (remember them?) each morning, I was struck by the photographs - after a while I could instantly tell if the photographer was a westerner or from the middle east. The western photographers typically took photos of the damage - bombed buildings, cars, etc. while the local photographers took photos of the people - people in crisis, holding dead and dying, looking for someone lost, grieving. It was quite telling.

Let's see how this war plays out.

 

[Summerliz03]

Pentagon tells Congress no sign that Iran was going to attack US first, sources say

Trump administration officials acknowledged in closed-door briefings with congressional staff on Sunday that there was no intelligence suggesting Iran planned to attack U.S. forces first, two people familiar with the matter said.

www.reuters.com

 

[Lebowski]

How many countries have been implicated so far? In just a couple of days

it's almost as if the middle east is unstable and you want to tread carefully there

 

[CrimeDawg123]

CNN —
Sixty years after the overthrow of Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh, a declassified CIA document acknowledges that the agency was involved in the 1953 coup.

The independent National Security Archive research institute, which published the document Monday, says the declassification is believed to mark the CIA’s first formal acknowledgment of its involvement.

The documents, declassified in 2011 and given to George Washington University research group under the Freedom of Information Act, come from the CIA’s internal history of Iran from the mid-1970s and paint a detailed picture of how the CIA worked to oust Mossadegh.

In a key line pointed out by Malcom Byrne, the editor who worked through the documents, the CIA spells out its involvement in the coup. “The military coup that overthrew Mossadeq and his National Front cabinet was carried out under CIA direction as an act of U.S. foreign policy, conceived and approved at the highest levels of government,” the document says, using a variation of the spelling of Mossadegh’s name.

While this might be the CIA’s first formal nod, the U.S. role has long been known.

https://edition.cnn.com/2013/08/19/politics/cia-iran-1953-coup/?hpt=po_c2

 

[imstilla.grandma]

President Donald Trump says he is “very disappointed” in Prime Minister Keir Starmer for initially refusing to allow British bases to be used for U.S. strikes on Iran.

Trump told Britain’s Daily Telegraph that “we were very disappointed in Keir.”

In a change of position, Starmer announced Sunday that the U.S. can use bases in England and on Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean to strike Iran’s ballistic missiles and their launch and storage sites, but not to hit other targets.
Trump said the change in position is “useful” but “took far too much time.”
“It sounds like he was worried about the legality,” Trump said.

Live updates: Oil tankers and refineries under attack as US and Israel exchange strikes with Iran and war widens

Iran and Iranian-backed militias fired missiles at Israel and Arab states and Israel and the United States pounded targets in Iran as the war expanded Monday.

apnews.com

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the goal of the strikes on Iran was not regime change, “but the regime sure did change and the world is better off for it.” Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine said the war against Iran would not be a “single, overnight operation.”

• Expanding war with Iran: Iran’s top official said Tehran “will not negotiate” with the US. Israel and Hezbollah are trading blows as the conflict widens, while explosions have been heard in Gulf cities including Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha. Here’s a look at the war in maps and charts.

• Fighter jets shot down: Three US fighter jets were accidentally shot down by Kuwaiti air defenses in an apparent “friendly fire incident,” according to the US military. All crews have been recovered and are in stable condition.

https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/iran-israel-us-attack-03-02-26-intl-hnk

 

[Wishbone]

US aircraft leave Spain after government says bases cannot be used for Iran attacks​

MSN

 

[imstilla.grandma]

• IRAN WAR INTENSIFIES: The United States and Israel hit thousands of targets inside Iran, continuing their joint campaign after killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iran’s Red Crescent said more than 550 people were killed in the strikes.
• TEHRAN HITS BACK: Iran escalated attacks on Israel and targets across the Middle East, with four U.S. service members killed. Three U.S. fighter jets were mistakenly downed by Kuwait. Eleven people were killed in Israel, officials said, with deaths reported in the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Bahrain.
• CONFLICT SPREADS: Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon fired missiles at Israel, which responded with its own strikes. Dozens were killed, according to Lebanese authorities.
• WAR WON'T BE 'ENDLESS': Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said today that the war in Iran will not be "endless," and that the U.S. goal was not regime change.
• TEHRAN SAYS NO TALKS: Iran’s top national security official Ali Larijani vowed “we will not negotiate with the United States” after President Donald Trump said that Iranian officials do want to talk with the U.S. and “are talking.”
• GLOBAL DISRUPTION: The price of oil has risen sharply as the conflict disrupts supplies. Countries are also scrambling to evacuate their citizens from Gulf states under attack from Iran amid widespread flight cancellations and airport closures
• Live updates: Iran war will not be 'endless,' Hegseth says as Middle East conflict expands

In the chaos, the U.S. military said that Kuwait "mistakenly shot down" three American F-15E Strike Eagles during a combat mission.

Live Updates: U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran widens

Iran and Iranian-backed militias fired missiles at Israel and Arab states, apparently hitting the U.S. Embassy compound in Kuwait, while Israel and the United States pounded targets in Iran as the war expanded Monday with statements of defiance and increasing casualties.

www.pbs.org

Brent crude, the global benchmark, was trading in the high $70s on Monday morning following the effective halt of tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

That's a sharp rise from before the U.S. and Israel attacked, but far from a worse-case scenario. Analysts have warned that prices could top $100 a barrel if oil trade is disrupted for a prolonged period of time, or if the war spills over into neighboring countries and destroys oil infrastructure. Saudi Arabia says it has shot down drones targeting an oil refinery, while Qatar Energy says two natural gas facilities have been attacked

What is Iran’s military strategy? How has it changed since June 2025 war?

Defence analysts tell Al Jazeera that Iran has revised its military strategy since 12-day war with Israel.

www.aljazeera.com

 

[Lebowski]

IMO, that is a totally unfair judgement regarding Americans. IMHO
I am saddened for every innocent life lost and feel this war was illegal and unnecessary. JMHO

i'm an american, and i don't feel the way she describes, but i can hear it without getting offended, because i don't take it as a blanket generalization, so much as a statement about what's typical and/or how the country behaves on the world stage, and i don't disagree.

 

[Sarahlou]

US aircraft leave Spain after government says bases cannot be used for Iran attacks​

MSN

Good for Spain. I wish Keir Starmer had a backbone.

 

[bestill]

I suspect the flaw is that many in the US think they're the best country in the world, and therefore, no other country could have citizens who feel as strongly about their own. Patriotism or nationalism in other countries baffles them, I think, because there's this false narrative that everyone everywhere wants to be American and live in America, like everywhere else is somehow deficient. Whereas the fact is, there are plenty of people who live all over the world and love their country and wouldn't want to live anywhere else. Many political refugees in exile love their countries with a passion far beyond where they are settled, even though they know they can never return.

If you can't comprehend that other people other places love their countries, whatever their injustices, trials and troubles, then you're never going to understand the lengths they'll go to to defend it. And that's a flaw you can't have if you're going to go to war with them.

MOO

I disagree with so much of this. I love my country, America, and believe that many others have national pride for their nations too. From my travels to other countries I find that most don't want to be American, they have a disdain for us and our leadership here, regardless of the political party in office at the time. Your sentiment that many of us believe we are the best country in the world isn't true at all. I believe that American's do not want to be in the middle east conflict's, however if we aren't involved then the entire world is threatened. Can you imagine a world where the US just stood by and let other countries with evil dictators operate without any restraint? It would be chaos. It really makes me sad that we are always being judged for doing what other countries don't have the fortitude or power to do. It would be nice one day for the world to thank us rather than judge us.

Another point that you bring up are the political refugees. We definitely have opened our borders and hearts to them, we just ask that they come to America and want to be part of our country and assimilate. Please don't come here and not honor our laws.

All JMO and I felt the need to respond to this from my personal perspective.

All JMO

 

[Lebowski]

another thing going on that i think absolutely plays a role is that the american civilian population is as far removed from war, in both space and time, as any civilian population in history. last time we had any significant amount of combat here, in the same place our civilians live (and, more to the point, our voters), was 1865. war is an abstraction to almost all of us. the human costs are almost invisible. that makes it easy, when the possibility of going to war comes up, to say "sure. why not?"

 

[Magic8Ball]

Iran's president appointed on Monday Revolutionary Guards general Majid Ebnelreza as the country’s acting defence minister after his predecessor was killed in Israeli-US strikes.

Iran launches another salvo of drones and missiles across region

The US president has warned that operations may last weeks, while Tehran continued to attack countries across the Middle East on Monday, as Iran war entered its third day. Follow our live blog.

www.euronews.com

"Congrats to Ebnelreza on both his promotion and his soon-to-be early retirement!" ~ the IDF (probably)