For the last two days, there has been only one news item in the media, and that is the USA/Israel’s attack on Iran, and in return, Iran replies with an attack on the USA’s military establishments in the Middle East and on Israel. In the attack, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khammeni was killed. Besides his death, Iran has confirmed the deaths of IRGC Chief Gen Mohd Pakpour, Military Council head Ali Shamkhani, National Intelligence Chief Gholamerza Rezalan, Chief of Staff of Armed Forces Abdolrahim Mousavi and Defence Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh.
Iran also attacked with hundreds of drones and missiles on the USA Gulf allies-UAE, including Dubai and Abu Dhabi, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain.
This military operation by the USA/Israel against Iran was launched, citing an immediate need to dismantle Iran’s nuclear programs and eliminate “imminent threats” from the Iranian regime. The primary reasons for the joint offensive –codenamed Operation Epic Fury by the USA and Roaring Lion by Israel include:
1 Nuclear Weapons Prevention
Both nations maintain that Iran’s advancing nuclear enrichment and missile development pose an existential threat. The USA President stated that strikes were necessary to ensure Iran ‘can never have a nuclear weapon’.
2 Response to Failed Diplomacy
The attack followed the collapse of recent indirect nuclear negotiations mediated by Oman. After a two-month deadline for a new deal expired without agreement, the USA and Israel concluded that diplomacy had been exhausted.
3 Regime Survival and Change
Analysts and official statements suggest that the operation aimed to weaken the Iranian government and inspire internal resistance. The USA President explicitly urged the Iranian people to ‘take over your government’, calling ith their ‘only chance for generations’.
4 Targeting Leadership and Infrastructure
Initial strikes were highly targeted, resulting in the reported death of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayotollah Ali Khammenai and other top military and security officials.
5 Long-Standing Regional Rivalry
The war is a culmination of decades of tension involving Iran’s “Axis of Resistance” (proxies like Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis) that have repeatedly attacked the USA and Israeli interests in the region.
This 2026 conflict follows a previous 12-day air war in June 2025 (Operation Midnight Hammer), where the USA and Israel also struck an Iranian nuclear site.
This war followed a decades-long proxy war. Iran has called for Israel’s destruction, and armed Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Furthermore, Iran’s nuclear program has caused international concern for over a decade and Israel considers it an existential threat.
While announcing ‘major combat operations’, the USA President said, their aim is to ‘destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground’. The military objectives of this operation include:
- Destroy Iran’s missile capabilities.
- Target Iran’s Navy.
- Disrupting Iran-backed armed groups in the region.
- Making sure that Iran does not obtain nuclear weapons.
Iran’s counter-offensive attacks targeted the USA military operations across the region, including
- AI Udeid airbase in Qatar.
- Al-Salem airbase in Kuwait
- AI-Dhafra airbase in the UAE.
- The US Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain.
- Explosions were also heard in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
- USA bases were also reportedly attacked in Jordon.
The USA/Israel attacked many Iranian military and nuclear establishments at various locations in Iran.
This is a long-standing conflict between these countries, and no one knows when it is to end. The USA has gained the upper hand with the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayotollah Ali Khammenai. Going by today’s press report, where it is mentioned that, as per President Trump’s statement, ‘Iran is willing and ready for talks now’.
Let us wait and watch where this is leading to.
Anil Malik
Mumbai, India
2nd March 2026