6 questions and answers What happens after the start of a new Iran war?
Israel and the USA attack Iran
Image: dpa
US President Donald Trump calls on the people of Iran to overthrow their leadership.
Image: dpa
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu describes the Iranian nuclear program as the greatest existential threat.
Image: dpa
Israel and the USA attack Iran
Image: dpa
US President Donald Trump calls on the people of Iran to overthrow their leadership.
Image: dpa
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu describes the Iranian nuclear program as the greatest existential threat.
Image: dpa
Israel and the USA bomb targets in Iran. Tehran strikes back. The Middle East region faces a dangerous further escalation.
28.02.2026, 22:56
dpa
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- The USA and Israel jointly attack military targets in Iran and trigger Iranian counter-attacks in the region.
- Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are using the offensive to stop Iran's missile and nuclear programs and increase political pressure on the leadership in Tehran.
- Experts doubt that the leadership around Ali Khamenei will be overthrown quickly and warn of a potential conflagration in the Middle East.
Israel and the USA launched coordinated air and missile attacks against targets in Iran early on Saturday morning. In response, Tehran reported attacks on targets in Israel and on several US military bases in the Gulf region. Israel calls its operation the "roar of the lion", the USA speaks of the "deployment of tremendous fury". Here is an overview:
What was attacked?
In addition to the metropolis of Tehran, explosions were reported in Ghom, Lorestan, Kermanshah, Karaj and Tabris. There were also explosions near the cultural metropolis of Isfahan - home to one of Iran's central nuclear centers, which was already the target of US bombings last year. According to reports, missile depots, air defense facilities and targets near government buildings were hit.
An incoming projectile explodes in Haifa Bay as Israel declared a nationwide alert following its attacks on Iran.
Image: Leo Correa/AP/dpa
An Israeli submarine is seen in Haifa Bay in northern Israel after Israel declared a nationwide alert following its attacks on Iran.
Image: Leo Correa/AP/dpa
People seek shelter in an underground parking garage after an alert was issued for incoming missiles from Iran. Iran has fired missiles at Israel following attacks by the US and Israel, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) announced on Saturday.
Image: Oren Ziv/dpa
The population of Tel Aviv had to flee to safety. This picture also comes from the same underground parking garage.
Image: Oren Ziv/dpa
An Israeli soldier takes cover near Ashkelon as the Israeli missile defense system "Iron Dome" launches to intercept a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip. Israel has mobilized 70,000 reservists for the operation against Iran.
Image: Ariel Schalit/AP/dpa
The traces of an intercepted air defense missile can be seen over the Old City of Jerusalem.
Image: Mahmoud Illean/AP/dpa
In the city of Ramat Gan, near Tel Aviv, Israeli civilians also had to hold out in shelters.
Image: dpa
A couple with their two children rush into a shelter in Haifa after a warning siren sounded following Israeli attacks on Iran.
Image: Leo Correa/AP/dpa
A policeman blocks off the beach promenade in Haifa after sirens were sounded in the port city.
Image: Leo Correa/AP/dpa
Israel's Ben Gurion airport in Lod, near Tel Aviv, is empty after an Israeli military strike on Iran. Flight operations have been suspended throughout the region.
Image: Ariel Schalit/AP/dpa
On Saturday morning, the United States under President Donald Trump launched a major military offensive against targets in Iran, together with ally Israel. (archive picture)
Image: Evan Vucci/AP/dpa
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu listens during a press conference with US President Trump at Mar-a-Lago. The picture was taken on December 29, 2025.
Image: Alex Brandon/AP/dpa
Depiction of the US military presence in the Middle East. There are more than 30,000 US soldiers in the Middle East/Eastern Mediterranean region. Marked in blue: US-controlled bases, in operation for at least 15 years. Pink: other bases with US troops. Gray: ships.
Image: CFR/NYT/dpa
Iranian forces have attacked four military bases in the region in response to attacks by Israel and the US.
Image: Nachrichtenagentur FARS/OSM Mitwirkende
Israel and the USA bomb targets in Iran.
Image: dpa
An incoming projectile explodes in Haifa Bay as Israel declared a nationwide alert following its attacks on Iran.
Image: Leo Correa/AP/dpa
An Israeli submarine is seen in Haifa Bay in northern Israel after Israel declared a nationwide alert following its attacks on Iran.
Image: Leo Correa/AP/dpa
People seek shelter in an underground parking garage after an alert was issued for incoming missiles from Iran. Iran has fired missiles at Israel following attacks by the US and Israel, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) announced on Saturday.
Image: Oren Ziv/dpa
The population of Tel Aviv had to flee to safety. This picture also comes from the same underground parking garage.
Image: Oren Ziv/dpa
An Israeli soldier takes cover near Ashkelon as the Israeli missile defense system "Iron Dome" launches to intercept a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip. Israel has mobilized 70,000 reservists for the operation against Iran.
Image: Ariel Schalit/AP/dpa
The traces of an intercepted air defense missile can be seen over the Old City of Jerusalem.
Image: Mahmoud Illean/AP/dpa
In the city of Ramat Gan, near Tel Aviv, Israeli civilians also had to hold out in shelters.
Image: dpa
A couple with their two children rush into a shelter in Haifa after a warning siren sounded following Israeli attacks on Iran.
Image: Leo Correa/AP/dpa
A policeman blocks off the beach promenade in Haifa after sirens were sounded in the port city.
Image: Leo Correa/AP/dpa
Israel's Ben Gurion airport in Lod, near Tel Aviv, is empty after an Israeli military strike on Iran. Flight operations have been suspended throughout the region.
Image: Ariel Schalit/AP/dpa
On Saturday morning, the United States under President Donald Trump launched a major military offensive against targets in Iran, together with ally Israel. (archive picture)
Image: Evan Vucci/AP/dpa
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu listens during a press conference with US President Trump at Mar-a-Lago. The picture was taken on December 29, 2025.
Image: Alex Brandon/AP/dpa
Depiction of the US military presence in the Middle East. There are more than 30,000 US soldiers in the Middle East/Eastern Mediterranean region. Marked in blue: US-controlled bases, in operation for at least 15 years. Pink: other bases with US troops. Gray: ships.
Image: CFR/NYT/dpa
Iranian forces have attacked four military bases in the region in response to attacks by Israel and the US.
Image: Nachrichtenagentur FARS/OSM Mitwirkende
Israel and the USA bomb targets in Iran.
Image: dpa
In response, the Iranian armed forces reportedly attacked targets in Israel and four US military bases in the region. These included the Al-Udeid base in Qatar, Al-Salem in Kuwait, the Al-Dhafra airbase in the United Arab Emirates and the US fleet in Bahrain, as reported by the Fars news agency. According to reports, there was also an air alert in Iraq.
Unlike during the twelve-day war last June, the attacks began in the morning and not at night. In addition, Israel and the USA coordinated their attacks.
What are Israel's targets?
Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu justifies the attacks on Iran with protection against an existential threat from Tehran. This refers to Iran's nuclear and missile program.
It must "not be allowed that the murderous terror regime equips itself with nuclear weapons that would enable it to threaten all of humanity", Netanyahu continued. The New York Times reported that Israel is focusing its attacks on missile storage sites, production facilities and launchers.
What is the USA's goal?
According to US President Donald Trump, he wants to defend Americans - from a threat from the Iranian leadership. He also took aim at the Iranian nuclear program in a video message: "They must never have a nuclear weapon." Trump also encouraged the Iranians to change power. "The hour of your freedom has come", he said. "This will probably be your only chance for generations." He added: "When we're done, take over your government." He called on the Revolutionary Guards, armed forces and also the police to lay down their weapons.
Iran experts are critical of the prospects of overthrowing the Iranian leadership. They cite the fact that the Iranian opposition is not united and that there are no discernible cracks in the elite or the Revolutionary Guards.
What is the situation in Iran?
A video from the Mehr news agency showed great destruction in the middle of the capital Tehran. The footage showed a completely destroyed building. Several rescue workers could be seen at the edge of the rubble.
Eyewitnesses reported by text message that long queues had formed at petrol stations in the metropolis of millions. Many people tried to leave the capital. Many stores were closed. An eerie silence prevailed in the north of the lively metropolis.
According to the Reuters news agency, an Israeli official declared that the body of Iranian head of state Ali Khamenei had been found. Several Israeli media also reported, citing military officials, that Iranian head of state Ali Khamenei was dead. Channel 12 reported that US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had seen pictures of Khamenei's body after it had been recovered from the rubble of his residence. There has been no official confirmation from Tehran so far.
According to information from Israel, other leading representatives of the Iranian military leadership were killed in the Israeli-American attacks in Iran. Among the dead were the commander of the Revolutionary Guards, Mohammed Pakpur, and Iran's Defense Minister Asis Nasirsadeh, according to the Israeli armed forces. There was initially no confirmation of this from Iran.
Why have the USA and Israel decided to launch an attack at this particular time?
The negotiations in Geneva on the Iranian nuclear program have not yet produced a breakthrough. In recent weeks, the USA has massively deployed naval and air forces in the Persian Gulf. US President Trump had given Tehran an ultimatum until the beginning of March. The attacks began on the morning of February 28.
Israeli Iran expert Danny Citrinowicz wrote on X that the working hypothesis underlying the operation was that the Iranian "regime" was weak and fragile. Therefore, a targeted, powerful and broad-based Israeli-American campaign could significantly undermine it and perhaps even create the conditions for internal change. The central problem is: What happens if this assumption is wrong?
What happens next?
Iran has been warning of an attack for weeks and threatening a "devastating response". According to US television station CNN, US government officials are talking about an operation that could last for days or weeks. It is "no small blow". There is a danger of a "comprehensive regional war", which Iran's religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has already warned of.
Iran expert Ali Vaez of the Crisis Group think tank wrote on X that Iran's retaliatory measures would probably not only be direct, but asymmetrical and possibly ignite several fronts simultaneously. "If Hezbollah goes all in from Lebanon, if militias attack US bases in Iraq and Syria, or if the Huthi escalate in the Red Sea, this is no longer a bilateral conflict but a regional war that spreads across the Middle East."
Vaez also pointed out the possible consequences for the global economy. "Iran is located on the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of the world's oil supply flows. Even a limited disruption could lead to a rise in energy prices, an acceleration of inflation and uncertainty in global markets."
