The U.S. has launched "large-scale military action in Iran," President Donald Trump said in a video on the social media network Truth Social. He said the goal was to protect the US by "eliminating immediate threats from the Iranian regime."

As part of preparations for a possible strike on Iran, Trump earlier transferred additional military forces to the Middle East. Now the largest contingent since 2003 is in the region, Bloomberg <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-02-19/pentagon-amasses-mideast-force-as-trump-threatens-iran-on-talks">writes</a>: two aircraft carriers, fighter jets and refueling planes are stationed there. There are no signs that the US plans to send ground troops to Iran, the agency notes.

Earlier on February 28, Israel announced "preventive" missile strikes on Iran. <a href="https://apnews.com/article/iran-us-explosion-tehran-c2f11247d8a66e36929266f2c557a54c" target="_blank">Associated Press</a> and other media sources said that the US military also attacked Iran from the air and sea. The US and Israel plan to carry out intensive attacks on Iran over the next few days, the WSJ wrote, citing sources. According to one of them, the strikes are targeting military infrastructure to negate any possible Iranian retaliation.

<i>This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor</i>

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Trump announced the launch of a major operation against Iran