A closer look at the Iran war’s 1st 3 days — and where things stand now

The world woke up on Saturday to the news that the U.S. and Israel had attacked Iran in a major military operation, with Tehran quickly striking back against American bases in the region.

The conflict has also spread to other parts of the region as Iran launches multiple rounds of strikes on other Middle Eastern countries amid a tumultuous conflict that so far is seeing rising death tolls, disruptions to global air travel and skyrocketing oil prices.

Here’s how it unfolded.

The U.S. and Israeli strikes came as the U.S. and Iran held their second round of talks on the future of Iran’s nuclear program, which were taking place in Geneva.

As the talks began on Feb. 17, Iranian media announced that Iran had fired live missiles toward the Strait of Hormuz and said it would close the Strait for several hours for “safety and maritime concerns.”

This was the first time that Iran has closed parts of the strait, an essential international waterway, since the U.S. began threatening Iran with military action.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Feb. 19 that he hoped Iran would make a “meaningful deal” with the U.S., “otherwise bad things happen.”

He repeated his threat against Iran during his state of the union speech last week, accusing Iran of restarting its nuclear program, working to build missiles that “soon” would be capable of reaching the United States and being responsible for roadside bombings that have killed U.S. service members and civilians.

Iran says its nuclear research is for civilian energy production.

On Feb. 27, a day before the Saturday strikes, Trump said he was “not happy” with the progress of the nuclear talks.

“I’m not happy with the fact that they’re not willing to give us what we have to have. I’m not thrilled with that,” Trump told reporters.

Around 1:15 a.m. eastern on Saturday, March 1, more than 100 American aircraft from land and sea launched against Iranian targets, said Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The military action has been codenamed Operation Epic Fury by the U.S.

Caine said the initial strikes were carried out by the Israelis, and the U.S. action was based on a “trigger event conducted by the Israel Defense Forces, enabled by the U.S. intelligence community.”

The first shots fired were Tomahawk missiles launched from U.S. navy vessels, while on the ground, forces fired precision standoff weapons.

The attack struck more than 1,000 targets in the first 24 hours, Caine said.

In a video posted on Truth Social announcing the attack early Saturday morning, Trump mentioned Washington’s decades-old dispute with Iran, including the seizure of the 1979 U.S. embassy in Tehran when students held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days.

Reuters reported that the strikes also hit some civilian infrastructure, including an all-girls school, where more than 100 people have died.

The first strikes Saturday morning appeared to target the home of Iran’s 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in downtown Tehran.

Hours after the U.S. strike, Trump announced on Truth Social that Khamenei had been killed.

Trump said the 86-year-old leader of Iran’s Islamic regime – who has held authority in the country’s theocratic system for decades – had died in U.S. strikes earlier Saturday.

Iranian state media later confirmed Khamenei’s death.

Khamenei’s death raises questions about the future of the Islamic Republic.

The 88-seat Assembly of Experts, a group of clerics, has the authority to choose Khamenei’s replacement. Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkin, said in a pre-recorded message that a leadership council “has begun its work” of finding a new leader.

But no clear successor is in place, and Iran is facing significant waves of protests against the regime.

Trump said the “massive” operation was intended to ensure Tehran does not obtain a nuclear weapon and aimed at “eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime.”

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He urged Iranians to shelter because “bombs will be dropping everywhere.”

However, he added: “When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will be probably your only chance for generations.”

In response, Tehran launched missiles at Israel as well as several countries in the Middle East that host U.S. military bases, including Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar.

Tehran had warned earlier that it would strike U.S. bases in the region if it were attacked.

State media in the UAE reported shrapnel from Iranian attacks on Abu Dhabi killed two people, with debris from aerial interceptions causing fires at the city’s main port and on the facade of the Burj Al Arab hotel.

Saudi Arabia also confirmed attacks on its capital of Riyadh and its eastern region, but said it had successfully intercepted them.

The widening conflict had ripple effects across the world, with flights across the region being disrupted and oil prices rising sharply.

Air Canada said it has revised its ticketing policy to allow customers travelling on affected flights to make changes without penalty, space permitting. Customers can retrieve their booking online to change their flight free of charge.

Global Affairs Canada said there are currently 85,000 Canadians registered in the region, with more than 3,000 in Iran alone.

The number is based on voluntary self-registration by Canadians with Global Affairs Canada as of Sunday, which means the actual number may be higher.

As of Monday, neither side has given any indication that a de-escalation is coming any time soon.

“You have crossed our red line and must pay the price,” Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, said in a televised address Sunday. “We will deliver such devastating blows that you yourselves will be driven to beg.”

Trump said in a post on Truth Social that any retaliation would be met with further escalation.

“THEY BETTER NOT DO THAT,” Trump fired back in the post.

During a press conference on Monday, Trump said the projection is that the U.S. attacks on Iran will last “four to five weeks” but could go longer.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Sunday his country would have a “non-stop air train” of strikes against military and leadership targets in Iran.

— with files from The Associated Press and Reuters

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