Why is the U.S. attacking Iran? Six things to know

NPR News · Feb 28, 2026 · Collected from RSS

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Smoke rises on the skyline after an explosion in Tehran, Iran, Saturday. AP hide caption toggle caption AP The U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Saturday after weeks of threats from President Trump over Iran's nuclear capabilities. Here's what you need to know about the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran: Israel and the U.S. launched military strikes against Iran Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the goal of the joint U.S. Israeli strikes is to quote "remove the existential threat posed by the terrorist regime in Iran." Netanyahu said in a video: "Our joint action will create the conditions for the brave Iranian people to take their destiny into their own hands." A person briefed on the operation told NPR it was expected to last a few days, with Israel's military focusing on targeting Iran's missile program. Trump announced what he called "major combat operations" President Trump announced what he called "major combat operations" that are "massive and ongoing" in Iran in a video posted to Truth Social at 2:30 a.m. ET. He said the objective was to "defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats" from Iran. Attacks came after a week of U.S.-Iran negotiations over the country's nuclear program A third round of indirect negotiations between Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner failed to produce a diplomatic solution on Thursday. The Israel strikes targeted Khamenei and the Iranian president The Israel strikes targeted Khamenei and the Iranian president, trying to assassinate them, a person briefed on the operation told NPR's Daniel Estrin. A person briefed on the matter told NPR that Israeli assessments are that Khamenei was hit. Iran's news agency IRNA says the U.S.-Israeli strikes hit a girls school, killing at least 53 young female students and wounding dozens more. Trump encourages overthrow Trump encouraged innocent Iranians to "take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will probably be your only chance for generations" once what the Pentagon is calling "Operation Epic Fury" is over. He previously said he was concerned about the Iranian regime's killing of protesters and has previously cited that as potential justification for U.S. strikes. Iran's response Iran's foreign ministry has called the airstrikes by the U.S. and Israel a "gross violation" of its national sovereignty, and vowed to respond decisively. The UAE's Defense Ministry says Iranian ballistic missiles targeted the country, which hosts U.S. troops at several locations in the country Qatar, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan have all been targeted by Iran. All of them have U.S. troops present. US Navy's Fifth Fleet service center in Manama, Bahrain was hit according to the government there. The other countries say the missiles were intercepted. The UAE says debris from a missile interception killed an Asian migrant worker. Loud booms have been heard over Dubai according to our correspondent there.