US and Israel launch a major attack on Iran. Trump urges Iranians to
A U.S.-linked strike campaign now sits alongside a presidential call for foreign regime overthrow, collapsing the boundary between military action and political coercion abroad.
Feb 28, 2026
Sources
Summary
The U.S. and Israel launched a major attack on Iran as Iran reported at least 201 killed and more than 700 injured, then retaliated with missiles and drones toward Israel and U.S. military bases. The U.S. presidency publicly coupled military action with a call for the Iranian public to rise up against its governing leadership. The immediate consequence is an escalatory cycle of strikes and reprisals across the region with U.S. forces directly implicated as targets.
Reality Check
Democratic accountability erodes when war-making power and strategic aims are asserted through public presidential exhortations with no visible institutional constraint. Normalizing U.S. participation in major attacks while urging foreign publics to overthrow their government conditions Americans to accept executive-driven escalation without clear, durable guardrails. When U.S. military bases become targets in retaliation, the public bears the risk of decisions made at the top without transparent limits on authority or objectives.
Detail
<p>The U.S. and Israel carried out a major attack on Iran on Saturday. Iranian state media, citing the Red Crescent, reported at least 201 people killed and more than 700 injured by Saturday evening. Iran responded by launching missiles and drones toward Israel and toward U.S. military bases in the region, and exchanges of fire continued into the night.</p><p>Some early strikes appeared to hit near offices associated with Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and Iranian media described strikes occurring nationwide, with smoke rising over the capital. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told NBC News that Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian were alive “as far as I know,” and described the attack as “unprovoked, illegal and absolutely illegitimate.”</p><p>President Donald Trump urged the Iranian public to “seize control of your destiny” by rising up against the Islamic leadership that has governed Iran since 1979.</p>