Operation Seal of the Flood

globalsecurity.org · Mar 1, 2026 · Collected from GDELT

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Iran's military response to Operation Epic Fury was rapid, broad, and presented by Tehran under a name dense with ideological weight: عمليات ختم الطوفان -- Operation Khatam al-Toofan, rendered in English as "Seal of the Flood" or "End of the Flood." The name was deliberate and layered. Iran's previous major retaliation against Israel in April 2024 had been launched in solidarity with Hamas's October 7, 2023 operation, which Hamas itself named Toofan al-Aqsa -- "Al-Aqsa Flood." By naming its February 28 response Khatam al-Toofan, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was inscribing the operation into that same historical arc, positioning it not as a reactive strike but as the culminating answer to what began at Al-Aqsa. In Islamic theological tradition, khatam -- seal, closure, conclusion -- is among the most resonant words in the lexicon: the Prophet Muhammad bears the title Khatam al-Nabiyyin, Seal of the Prophets, the final and culminating revelation. The IRGC's central military headquarters, moreover, already carries the name Khatam ol-Anbiya, Seal of the Prophets, meaning the word is deeply embedded in IRGC institutional culture and would have registered immediately with the Iranian military audience. The choice signaled: this is the completion of a cycle, the answering blow that closes the chapter opened in October 2023. The IRGC launched Khatam al-Toofan in multiple waves across the morning of February 28. The first wave targeted Israel directly, with ballistic missiles and drones fired toward Tel Aviv, northern Israel including Haifa, and Jerusalem. The Israeli military confirmed the launches and activated air defense systems across the country. A second wave, launched within hours, was directed not at Israel but at the network of American military installations ringing Iran across the Persian Gulf. Iran confirmed strikes aimed at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar -- the largest American air base in the Middle East, housing thousands of U.S. personnel and serving as the air operations hub for U.S. Central Command -- as well as Al-Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates, Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait, and the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet headquarters at Naval Support Activity Bahrain in Juffair, Manama. The IRGC simultaneously targeted Iraqi facilities associated with U.S.-aligned forces, including a strike on the headquarters of Kataib Hezbollah -- an Iran-backed Shia militia in the Popular Mobilization Forces -- in the Jurf al-Sakhr area south of Baghdad, which produced two deaths and eight injuries according to Iraqi outlet Shafaq News. Explosions were reported in Saudi Arabia's capital, Riyadh, amid heightened alerts, and air defense activations were recorded in Jordan. The IRGC declared in a statement that "all Israeli and U.S. military targets in the Middle East have been struck by the powerful blows of Iranian missiles," adding that "this operation will continue relentlessly until the enemy is decisively defeated." The most significant confirmed physical result of the Iranian retaliatory strikes was in Abu Dhabi. The United Arab Emirates Ministry of Defense confirmed that Iranian ballistic missiles struck residential areas of the capital after air defense systems intercepted several projectiles. Debris from the interceptions fell across multiple districts including Saadiyat Island, Khalifa City, Bani Yas, Mohammed bin Zayed City, and Al Falah, killing one civilian of Asian nationality -- the first confirmed civilian fatality on Gulf soil from the escalating conflict -- and causing material damage to residential and commercial structures. The UAE stated that air defenses had operated "with high efficiency" but that falling interception debris was itself responsible for the casualty and property damage. A second wave of Iranian missiles targeting the UAE was also reported; Emirati defenses neutralized it without additional casualties. In Bahrain, thick smoke was observed rising over the Juffair district, home to the U.S. Naval Support Activity and the Fifth Fleet headquarters, prompting evacuation of nearby residents. Bahrain activated nationwide air raid sirens. Qatar's Ministry of Defense stated that Patriot missile batteries had successfully intercepted at least one incoming projectile over Doha, though explosions were heard across the city. Kuwait reported engaging and repelling Iranian missiles, describing the attack in official language as a "heinous Iranian attack." Saudi Arabia's air defense systems were activated amid reports of blasts in Riyadh. Inside Iran, the damage inflicted by Operation Epic Fury in the hours before and during Iran's retaliatory launch was severe and in several cases unprecedented in scale. Strikes hit Tehran across multiple districts. Explosions were reported in the Pasteur district near the heavily fortified compound housing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's residence and offices, in the University Street and Jomhouri areas in central Tehran near IRGC headquarters, in the Seyed Khandan neighborhood in the north of the capital, and elsewhere across the city. Confirmed targets struck included the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence, the Ministry of Defense, the Office of the Supreme Leader, the Iranian Atomic Energy Agency, and the Parchin military complex southeast of Tehran -- a facility that has been at the center of Western proliferation concerns for more than two decades. The Natanz uranium enrichment complex and the Fordow facility roughly 90 miles south of Tehran, where uranium is enriched inside a mountain bunker, were also reported struck. Isfahan, site of Iran's major uranium conversion facility and a center of ballistic missile production, sustained multiple strikes. The IRGC Aerospace Force's major base at Damavand in the Alborz Mountains northeast of Tehran -- housing ballistic missile storage infrastructure -- was struck by a massive explosion with a visible plume; OSINT analysts identified the coordinates as matching a surface-to-surface missile base. IRGC naval facilities on the Persian Gulf were also hit, including a base at Asaluyeh, prompting concern among analysts about whether Iran would attempt to mine the Strait of Hormuz or attack commercial shipping. Strikes in Bushehr targeted what Iranian analysts described as an underground "missile city" facility, and a radar installation at Bandar Baher was also hit. NetBlocks reported national internet connectivity in Iran dropping to approximately 4 percent of normal levels -- a more severe communications blackout than during the June 2025 Twelve-Day War -- as mobile telephone networks and messaging services were disrupted across Tehran and other major cities. Casualties in Iran were mounting through the morning but remained difficult to verify given the near-total communications blackout. The most politically charged single incident was a strike in the southern port city of Minab, in Hormozgan Province, where Iran's state news agency IRNA reported that an Israeli strike hit a school, killing at least five female students according to some reports and as many as 24 in others cited by the National Council of Resistance of Iran. The discrepancy reflected the fog of early reporting under communications suppression and could not be independently verified. An Iranian source described by Reuters as "close to the establishment" confirmed that several senior IRGC commanders and Islamic Republic political officials were killed in the opening strikes. The IRGC-affiliated Saberin News Telegram channel reported multiple senior Revolutionary Guard officers among the dead. Israeli Channel 12, citing unnamed Israeli intelligence sources, reported assessments that Ali Shamkhani -- a senior adviser to Khamenei who had been closely associated with nuclear negotiations and regime security policy -- was likely killed in the opening wave. The IDF declined to formally confirm specific individuals targeted, stating that "assessments are ongoing." The fate of Khamenei himself became the day's most urgent open question. Iranian state media reported that the Supreme Leader had been moved to a secure location outside Tehran prior to the strikes -- a precaution Reuters confirmed through sources. Security forces were reported blocking roads in the area of the Supreme Leader's compound in Tehran. Israeli Channel 12 then reported, citing unnamed Israeli sources, that Israel "assesses" Khamenei was likely killed, noting there were "growing indications" -- though the station emphasized this was not based on satellite imagery of the destroyed compound but on information from unnamed intelligence sources. There was no official confirmation from any party. Satellite imagery circulating in Israeli media showed significant structural damage to Khamenei's compound. Iran's Interior Ministry issued a formal statement calling on the public to "remain calm" -- a formulation that in the context of a near-total internet shutdown read in Iranian political culture as an implicit acknowledgment of extreme disorder. Iran's Supreme National Security Council instructed residents of Tehran and other major cities to "stay in safe, protected locations until further notice." Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi issued the regime's most formal diplomatic response, framing the attack in the language of international law: "The United States, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, has committed a grave violation of the UN Charter, international law and the NPT by attacking Iran's peaceful nuclear installations." The formulation was calibrated to appeal to global audiences and to frame Iran as the victim of aggression under an international legal order the United States claims to uphold. Iran's Foreign Ministry followed with a statement declaring the attacks a violation of Iranian sovereignty and warning that "the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will decisively respond to the aggressors with authority," invoking the weight of Ir