NEWS
Massive Middle East Escalation: New Strikes Rock Iran as Tehran Retaliates Against US Bases and Allies, Trump Faces Backlash Over Unilateral Military Offensive
Fresh explosions have been reported across Iran as tensions in the Middle East spiral dramatically following large-scale military strikes and retaliatory attacks involving the United States, Israel, and Tehran.
New strikes were reported in Iran as Tehran hit US bases and allies across the Middle East in retaliation. The rapidly unfolding conflict marks one of the most significant escalations in the region in recent years, with military operations expanding in scope and intensity.
This attack on Iran was launched by the same Donald Trump who promised American voters “no new foreign wars” and railed against previous American attempts at regime change in Iraq and Afghanistan. The decision has ignited fierce debate at home and abroad, particularly among supporters who recall his earlier campaign commitments.
He is not planning to invade Iran. He hopes he can overthrow its leadership without putting American boots on the ground. However, the scale and coordination of the strikes suggest a strategy far broader than limited punitive action.
President Trump’s appetite for foreign military intervention has increased since his bombing campaign against Iran last year and the capture of Venezuela’s president last month. No Americans were killed in either of those limited actions.
The attack on Iran is on an entirely different scale. And he is warning of the likelihood of American casualties as a result of this operation. That acknowledgment alone signals the gravity of the unfolding confrontation.
Many of his own supporters may feel that this is not what they voted for. American presidents usually rely on vote in Congress to give them the authority to launch this kind of military offensive.
Donald Trump did not consult them. The move has sparked constitutional concerns over executive authority and war powers.
And he is not planning to appear on television to explain why he felt the need to take action. He used a video posted on social media at 02:30 in the morning to inform the American people that he had launched a massive attack against Iran. The unconventional communication method has added to criticism over transparency and accountability.
Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says approximately 200 fighter jets completed “the largest ever military flyover in the history of the Israeli Air Force” earlier today.
Writing on the messaging app Telegram, the IDF says the jets “completed an extensive attack against the missile array and the defense systems of the Iranian terror regime in western and central Iran”.
Jets dropped “hundreds of munitions targeting approximately 500 objectives”, it adds. It claims to have “severely degraded the offensive capabilities of the Iranian regime”.
On the Iranian side, Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei says he’s “not in a position to confirm” whether members of Iran’s senior leadership targeted by the US and Israel are unharmed.
Earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told NBC News that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is “alive” as far as he is aware but Iran “may have lost one or two commanders”.
Following reports that Khamenei’s offices and residences were targeted, BBC News chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet pressed Baghaei to confirm or deny the reports.
“I can tell you that many places, many targets were hit across the country,” Baghaei says, claiming more than 150 girls were killed and maimed.
Put to him that it was understood the school was near an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps base, he replies: “That’s simply a way of normalising atrocity and atrocious crime.”
Other Arab countries have also reportedly been struck by Iran. Baghaei says the US had used those countries to launch aggressive strikes against Iran, adding “we value our friends”.
“We are not attacking any country in the region, we have no problem with our Arab neighbours. The only thing we are doing is to conduct an act of self-defence on those [US] bases,“ he says.
A witness tells BBC Persian a fresh explosion has been heard in western Tehran this evening.
News agency Agence France-Presse reports its journalists have heard “a series of fresh blasts” in the capital. The agency earlier said the Iranian Fars News Agency was reporting that two neighbourhoods in the southern Iranian city of Bushehr, home to a nuclear power plant were “targeted by missiles”.
Iran’s state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) is also reporting on new explosions in Tehran.
While the source is not immediately known, it comes after the US and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran earlier, prompting retaliatory strikes from Tehran on targets across the Middle East.
In the last few minutes, the Israeli Air Force has also posted on X, saying it has “launched another airstrike and is attacking missile launch sites and defense systems in central Iran”.
As the night deepens, uncertainty hangs over the region. With multiple actors engaged, civilian casualties reported, and retaliatory cycles intensifying, the crisis now threatens to reshape geopolitical alignments across the Middle East and test th
Smoke rises following an explosion, after Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz said Israel had launched a pre-emptive attack against Iran, in Tehran, Iran February 28, 2026 in this screen grab taken from video. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS – THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY IRAN OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN IRAN. NO USE BBC PERSIAN.NO USE VOA PERSIAN. NO USE MANOTO. NO USE IRAN INTERNATIONAL. NO USE RADIO FARDA. REFILE – UPDATING BYLINE
e limits of American political unity at home.