US - Iran war timeline : How the attack on Tehran began

watoday.com.au · Mar 1, 2026 · Collected from GDELT

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The first bombs hit central Tehran on Saturday morning (Iranian time), as the working week began. Footage shows civilians running in horror as blasts rocked the capital, many close to the compound of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei.US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said 86-year-old Khamenei, who had ruled Iran since 1989 and recently quashed protests with a bloody crackdown that left thousands dead, was now dead himself.Smoke rises after an explosion in Tehran.APIranian state media confirmed Khamenei’s death but it did not comment on its cause.The attack follows an assault on Iranian nuclear facilities in June last year and a rapid US military build-up that began in January and includes the deployment of two aircraft carriers, the USS Gerald R Ford and the USS Abraham Lincoln.Here is how the attack unfolded.A missile is launched from a US Navy ship taking part in Operation Epic Fury.APFebruary 26A third round of negotiations between Iran and the US facilitated by Oman in Switzerland concludes with Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi saying in a social media post that “significant progress” had been made.Later he told CBS he was confident a peace deal was within reach after Iran agreed that it would degrade current stockpiles of enriched nuclear material and cease stockpiling further material.February 27Trump says he prefers diplomacy but says military options remain open to him.February 285.30PM (AEDT)About this time, the first strikes are reported to have hit Iran. Locals report hearing blasts in Tehran and other cities and at military sites around the country.6.30PM (AEDT)Trump releases a video address confirming the attack.“A short time ago, the United States began major combat operations in Iran,” he says. “Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime, a vicious group of very hard terrible people.” He urges Iranians to revolt. “When we are finished, take over your government,” Trump says. “It will be yours to take. This will probably be your only chance for generations.”Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz confirms Israel has launched a “preemptive attack against Iran to remove threats against the state of Israel”.Israel calls the attack Operation Roaring Lion, while the US labels its action Operation Epic Fury.The AFP reports strikes in Tehran appear to target Khamenei’s offices.Heavy traffic in Tehran, where large explosions shook the city and people reported seeing smoke rising from the district that includes the presidential palace on Saturday morning (Iranian time).The New York TimesResidents look out from a rooftop vantage point in Tehran.The New York TimesDebris in the aftermath of a US-Israeli strike on Tehran.APSchools and workplaces in Israel are closed as Iran launches missiles and drones in retaliation. Air raid sirens sound across the country.Al Jazeera reports Iranian missile attacks launched on facilities linked to US forces across the region, including Al Udeid airbase in Qatar, Al-Salem airbase in Kuwait, Al-Dhafra airbase in the United Arab Emirates and the US Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain as well as sites in Jordan.Over the coming hours, blasts were reported across the region as Iran struck back. A fire broke out at the luxury Fairmont The Palm Hotel in Dubai, the UAE’s largest city; as well as at the Dubai International Airport, where four people had been injured, according to the Dubai Media Office.An Iranian missile hits a building in Tel Aviv on Saturday (Sunday AEDT).APA fire burns after a missile strike hits central Tel Aviv.Getty ImagesMarch 112.07AM (AEDT)Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi says on X that dozens of children were killed when a missile hit a girls’ primary school in southern Iran.Minutes later, Health Ministry spokesman Hossein Kermanpour says that in “the most bitter news”, 60 children were killed and 80 were wounded. State media later reports the death toll to be more than 100.Rescuers search through rubble after a school was hit in Minab, southern Iran. AFP1.35AM (AEDT)UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemns the attacks.“I condemn today’s military escalation in the Middle East. The use of force by the United States & Israel against Iran, and the subsequent retaliation by Iran across the region, undermine international peace & security,” his statement says.“All member states must respect their obligations under international law, including the Charter of the @UN. The Charter clearly prohibits ‘the threat of the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations’.“I call for an immediate cessation of hostilities & de-escalation. Failing to do so risks a wider regional conflict with grave consequences for civilians & regional stability. I strongly encourage all parties to return immediately to the negotiating table.”Emergency workers assist civilians after a missile strike in central Tel Aviv.Getty Images2.53AM (AEDT)The Tasnim News Agency, which is affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, reports that ships in the strategically critical Strait of Hormuz, through which 25 per cent of the world’s seaborne oil moves, are “receiving repeated high-frequency messages from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps stating that no ship is permitted to pass”.5.09AM (AEDT)Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says there are “many indications” Ayatollah Khamenei is dead.5.45AM (AEDT)The Israel Defence Forces claims to have conducted “the largest military flyover in IDF history” in its attack on Iran; 200 jets struck the missile array and aerial defence systems in western and central Iran, hitting more than 500 targets.8.19AM (AEDT)An IDF spokesman confirms it has launched co-ordinated strikes in co-operation with the US on gatherings of senior figures in Iran’s regime.The spokesman claims the strikes have killed figures including defence council secretary Ali Shamkhani; Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander Mohammad Pakpour; Defence Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh; Khamenei’s chief military secretary, Mohammad Shirazi; emergency military intelligence chief Saleh Asadi; and the chairman of the SPND (Iran’s nuclear weapons research organisation), Hossein Jabal Amelian.Appearing on NBC news on Saturday night in the US, Trump says he believes reports of Khamenei’s death are true.Later he posts on Truth Social: “Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead. This is not only Justice for the people of Iran, but for all Great Americans, and those people from many Countries throughout the World, that have been killed or mutilated by Khamenei and his gang of bloodthirsty THUGS.”Israeli officials said Israel targeted Khamenei’s sons, but intelligence assessments suggest they survived the strikes, including Mojtaba Khamenei, who has been discussed as a possible successor to his father, news website Axios has reported.Government supporters mourn after state television announced the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.APIn Tehran, reports of Khamenei’s death are greeted with celebrations in the street by some residents, according to CNN, while government supporters gather to condemn the killing.Analysts with Washington-based think tank the Centre for Strategic and International Studies write that they expect operations Epic Fury and Roaring Lion are likely to be the start of a prolonged conflict with Iran.“The US-Israel coalition has moved beyond proliferation targets and is seeking to destroy the Iranian government entirely,” the analysts say. “This conflict has already spread across the Middle East, involving strikes in more than half a dozen countries within the first few hours.“US and Israeli strikes may have significantly reduced the risk of short-term Iranian proliferation, but kinetic strikes may introduce new types of proliferation risks.”With Angus Dalton, Cormac Lally, Aresna Villanueva and Nathan PerriRead more on the US-Israel-Iran conflict:Live updates: US, Israel attack IranSupreme Leader killed: Ayatollah Ali Khamenei killed in strikesWhat we know so far: Why have Israel and the US attacked Iran?US President reveals his endgame: Attacking Iran is Trump’s most consequential moment, writes Michael KoziolTrump and Netanyahu decide on war: US-Israeli alliance now above any other, writes David Crowe