Operation Epic Fury: Inside the U.S.-Israeli War on Iran That Is Reshaping the Middle East

On the morning of February 28, 2026, at approximately 7:00 AM local time, the skies over Iran filled with American and Israeli ordnance. In what would become the largest B-2 operational strike in U.S. history, fourteen GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators — the world's largest bunker-buster bombs — slammed into Iran's underground nuclear facilities at Fordow and Natanz [1]. Tomahawk cruise missiles destroyed the Isfahan Nuclear Technology Center. Precision strikes leveled the compound of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Within hours, a nation of 90 million people was decapitated of its most powerful figure, its nuclear ambitions set back by decades, and the entire Middle East plunged into a conflict whose end remains nowhere in sight.

Five days later, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stood at a Pentagon podium and delivered a message that was equal parts promise and warning: "We're just getting started" [2].

The Road to War

The path to Operation Epic Fury did not begin on February 28. It was paved over months of escalating tensions, failed diplomacy, and a White House that had been signaling its intentions with increasing clarity.

In early January 2026, Iran was already convulsing from within. Antigovernment protests that had raged for more than two weeks prompted authorities to shut down the internet nationwide. President Trump responded on January 2 with a threat of "lock and loaded" military intervention if Iran killed peaceful protesters, and by January 23, he announced that a U.S. "armada" — including the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln — was heading to the Middle East [3].

A direct military confrontation nearly occurred on February 3, when six IRGC Navy gunboats attempted to seize a U.S. tanker, the Stena Imperative, in the Strait of Hormuz. The tanker continued under escort of the USS McFaul, but the incident underscored how thin the line between posture and conflict had become [3].

Diplomatic efforts continued in parallel but made little headway. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi described a "historic opportunity" for a nuclear agreement as "within reach" on February 25, and a third round of indirect talks took place in Geneva the following day. The sides remained far from agreement [3]. One day later, Trump delivered a State of the Union address accusing Iran of reviving nuclear weapons efforts, and on February 28, the bombs began to fall.

The Opening Salvo: Killing the Supreme Leader

The coordinated U.S.-Israeli operation had two codenames — Operation Epic Fury (U.S.) and Operation Roaring Lion (Israel) — and four stated objectives, as outlined by President Trump on TruthSocial: preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, destroying its missile arsenal and production sites, degrading its proxy networks, and annihilating its navy. A fifth, political objective was also stated openly: regime change from within [1].

The most dramatic achievement of the opening strikes was the assassination of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Using intelligence from the CIA to pinpoint senior leaders' locations, Israeli airstrikes targeted Khamenei at his office within his residence compound in Tehran. Iran's government confirmed his death on March 1 [4].

The reaction inside Iran was starkly divided. President Masoud Pezeshkian described the killing as a "great crime" and vowed it would "not go unanswered." Yet videos circulated from cities including Isfahan, Shiraz, Kermanshah, and Sanandaj showing Iranian civilians celebrating in the streets [4]. The duality captured the fractures within Iranian society — a population exhausted by theocratic rule and economic hardship, yet now under foreign military assault.

Under Article 111 of Iran's constitution, an Interim Leadership Council was established on March 1, consisting of Guardian Council head Alireza Arafi, Chief Justice Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i, parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, and President Pezeshkian [4]. But with Israeli strikes continuing to target senior military and political figures, the question of who can effectively govern — let alone negotiate — remains unanswered [5].

Escalation and Retaliation

Iran's response was swift and far-reaching. In the hours and days following the initial strikes, Tehran launched dozens of ballistic missiles and drones at Israeli territory and U.S. military bases across the Gulf region. The retaliatory fire struck not only the nations that attacked Iran, but also neighboring states — the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Iraq, Bahrain, and Oman — drawing condemnation for targeting countries that had not participated in the offensive [6].

The human cost mounted quickly. Six U.S. service members were killed, including four Army reservists — Capt. Cody Khork, 35; Sgt. 1st Class Noah Tietjens, 42; Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor, 39; and Sgt. Declan Coady, 20 — who died on March 1 when a drone struck Port Shuaiba in Kuwait. The strike hit a makeshift operations center with no warning and no siren [7]. Three U.S. embassies — in Kuwait, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia — were shuttered [8].

By March 4, preliminary casualty figures stood at over 1,045 dead in Iran, at least 11 in Israel, and nine killed in Gulf states, in addition to the six American soldiers [2][9].

The conflict also expanded geographically. On March 2, Israel launched simultaneous strikes on Tehran and Beirut, targeting Iran-backed Hezbollah, widening the theater of war into Lebanon and threatening to engulf the region in a broader conflagration [3].

A Historic Naval Engagement

In a moment that immediately entered military history, a U.S. submarine torpedoed and sank the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Sri Lanka on March 4. Defense Secretary Hegseth confirmed the kill, calling it a demonstration of American naval supremacy [10].

The Mk 48 torpedo struck beneath the stern of the Moudge-class frigate, which had 180 crew aboard. Sri Lankan officials reported 80 Iranian sailors dead, with 32 subsequently rescued by the Sri Lankan navy. It marked the first enemy warship sunk by a U.S. torpedo since World War II, the first-ever kill by a nuclear-powered attack submarine using a guided torpedo, and only the second ship ever sunk by an SSN — after HMS Conqueror sank the ARA General Belgrano during the Falklands War in 1982 [10].

The Strait of Hormuz: A Global Economic Chokepoint Closes

Perhaps no consequence of the conflict has been felt as immediately or as widely as the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz. The narrow waterway through which approximately 20 million barrels of oil pass daily — roughly 20% of global seaborne oil trade — has become a no-go zone [11].

Following the initial strikes, the IRGC issued warnings prohibiting vessel passage through the strait. Tanker traffic dropped by approximately 70% within hours, and soon fell to effectively zero. Over 150 ships anchored outside the strait to avoid risk, while the withdrawal of commercial operators, major oil companies, and insurers created a de facto blockade even where Iranian military enforcement was absent [11][12].

The economic shock was immediate. Brent crude surged 10-13% in initial trading and has risen 36% year-to-date. Analysts warned prices could reach $100 per barrel or higher if the disruption persists [12][13]. Global stock markets declined, with the Dow Jones falling over 400 points and the S&P 500 dropping 0.7% on March 2. European and Asian indexes fell 1-2% [13]. Airspace closures in the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and other Gulf states led to over 4,000 daily flight cancellations, stranding hundreds of thousands of passengers. Dubai International Airport and Abu Dhabi sustained direct damage from Iranian strikes [13].

Central banks worldwide now face a painful dilemma: the conflict's inflationary pressure from surging energy prices collides with slowing economic growth, complicating monetary policy at a moment when many economies were just beginning to recover [14]. Trump had recently declared inflation "tamed" — a claim the conflict has rendered premature [14].

Congress Fights Back: The War Powers Showdown

As bombs fell on Iran, a parallel battle erupted in Washington. Senators Tim Kaine, Chuck Schumer, and Adam Schiff pushed a bipartisan War Powers Resolution, introduced on January 29, that would terminate the president's authority to continue hostilities against Iran without explicit congressional authorization [15].

The resolution does not prevent the U.S. from defending itself or Israel from an Iranian attack, but it challenges the constitutional basis for the offensive campaign. As a privileged resolution, it requires only a simple majority of 51 votes to advance [15][16].

The vote, scheduled for Wednesday, March 4, faces steep odds. With a 53-seat Republican majority, the resolution appears likely to fall short. Even if it passed, the House and Senate would almost certainly lack the two-thirds majority needed to override a presidential veto [15]. House Speaker Johnson called limiting Trump's war powers authority "dangerous" [16].

Yet the debate itself carries weight. Four American soldiers had already been killed by the time the resolution reached the floor, lending moral urgency to arguments about congressional war-making authority. The conflict was launched without a formal declaration of war or an Authorization for Use of Military Force, resting instead on executive power claims that critics argue stretch constitutional limits beyond recognition.

Diplomatic Glimmers in the Fog of War

Amid the violence, a fragile thread of diplomacy has emerged. Reports indicate that Iran made secret diplomatic outreach to the United States following the initial strikes, exploring the possibility of a negotiated resolution [5].

However, American officials remain deeply skeptical. The targeted killing campaign has eliminated many of the Iranian officials who might have conducted negotiations, creating a paradox at the heart of the regime-change strategy: the more successfully the U.S. and Israel decapitate Iran's leadership, the fewer credible interlocutors remain to discuss terms. President Trump himself acknowledged this, suggesting the window for negotiations could be closing [5].

The International Response

The conflict has tested alliances worldwide. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, while not joining the initial offensive, permitted the United States to use British bases for "specific, limited defensive purposes" after Iranian retaliatory strikes threatened British partners and interests across the Gulf. Starmer explicitly broke with Trump on the goal of regime change, stating the UK does not support "regime change from the skies" [6].

In a joint statement with the leaders of France and Germany, Starmer said the European group was ready to take "proportionate defensive action" to destroy threats "at their source" — a significant escalation in European rhetoric, even as it stopped short of joining offensive operations [6]. Opposition leader Kemi Badenoch called for more action, while critics in Parliament drew uncomfortable parallels to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan [6].

Where This Goes Next

Five days into the conflict, the trajectory remains deeply uncertain. Hegseth's declaration that the U.S. is "just getting started," coupled with the arrival of additional forces in the region, suggests an extended campaign [2]. Trump has predicted the war could last "four weeks" — a timeline that military analysts view with skepticism given the complexity of the operation and Iran's capacity for asymmetric retaliation [3].

The war has already achieved several of its stated objectives: Iran's nuclear infrastructure has sustained significant damage, with satellite imagery confirming destruction at Natanz [1]. The supreme leader is dead. The Iranian navy has lost a major warship. But the costs are accumulating — in American lives, in economic disruption, in regional destabilization, and in the fraying of the international order.

The fundamental question remains unanswered: what comes after? Regime change imposed from the outside has a troubled history in the Middle East, as the ghosts of Iraq and Libya can attest. Iran's 90 million citizens, divided between those who celebrated Khamenei's death and those who mourned it, will ultimately determine their country's future. Whether that future emerges from the rubble of Operation Epic Fury through negotiation, further violence, or prolonged chaos may be the defining geopolitical question of 2026.