Operation Epic Fury
War breaks out
By Justine Isernhinke, Fellow and Head of Geopolitics and UAP Research, The Malone Institute
The joint US-Israeli war campaign against the Iranian Islamic Regime began this morning.
6 hours ago, President Trump announced that the war has begun:
To the great proud people of Iran, I say tonight that the hour of your freedom is at hand.
Stay sheltered. Don’t leave your home. It’s very dangerous outside.
Bombs will be dropping everywhere. When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will probably be your only chance for generations.
For many years, you have asked for America’s help, but you never got it. No president was willing to do what I am willing to do tonight. Now you have a president who is giving you what you want, so let’s see how you respond.
America is backing you with overwhelming strength and devastating force. Now is the time to seize control of your destiny and to unleash the prosperous and glorious future that is close within your reach. This is the moment for action.
Do not let it pass. May God bless you all.
-President, Donald J. Trump
Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi made this announcement to his people:
My dear compatriots,
Decisive moments lie before us.
The assistance that the President of the United States had promised to the brave people of Iran has now arrived. This is a humanitarian intervention, and its target is the Islamic Republic, its apparatus of repression, and its machinery of killing—not the country and great nation of Iran.
However, despite the arrival of this assistance, the final victory will still be achieved by us. It is we, the people of Iran, who will finish this task in this final battle. The time to return to the streets is approaching.
Now that the Islamic Republic is collapsing, my message to the country’s military, law enforcement, and security forces is clear:
You have sworn an oath to protect Iran and the Iranian nation, not the Islamic Republic and its leaders. Your duty is to defend the people, not to defend a regime that has taken our homeland hostage through repression and crime. Join the nation and help ensure a stable and secure transition. Otherwise, you will sink with Khamenei’s ship and his crumbling regime.
And my message to the President of the United States, President Trump, is this:
The honorable people of Iran, despite the brutal repression and killings carried out by this regime, stood bravely for nearly two months. I now ask you to exercise the utmost possible caution to preserve the lives of civilians and my compatriots. The people of Iran are your natural allies and the allies of the free world, and they will not forget your assistance during the most difficult period of Iran’s contemporary history.
And to you, my dear compatriots in Iran:
In these sensitive hours and days, more than ever we must remain focused on our ultimate goal: reclaiming Iran.
I ask you, for now, to remain in your homes and remain calm and safe. Stay alert and ready to return to the streets for the final action at the appropriate time, which I will communicate to you.
Follow my messages through social media and satellite media. If disruptions occur in the internet and satellite broadcasts, I will remain in contact with you via radio.
We are very close to final victory. I hope to be with you as soon as possible so that together we may reclaim Iran and rebuild it.
Long live Iran.
Reza Pahlavi
Analysis:
The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) struck a meeting of Iran’s senior political and security leadership in Tehran. It was the room where Iran’s government was gathered - and eliminated.
The IDF provided new details on its simultaneous airstrikes this morning targeting senior Iranian political and military officials at several locations in Tehran.
The IDF developed the plan over months, and it included a major intelligence effort led by the Intelligence Directorate to “identify an operational opportunity at the moment when senior regime officials would convene.”
The IDF says a decision was made to carry out the strike in the morning, rather than at night, despite Iranian preparedness. The IDF says it succeeded in “achieving tactical surprise for the second time,” referring to its opening strikes during June 2025’s 12-day war.
Intelligence officers spend thousands of hours of work putting together targets for the operation, with the IDF saying that it has “increased the number of targets by hundreds of percent, so that Israel is prepared to strike in Iran as long as required.”
The target research was conducted “in parallel with precise location tracking of Iranian commanders and senior leadership.”
According to the IDF, a “significant factor“ in the United States’ decision to join Israel in the operation against Iran is confidence in the IDF’s “intelligence and operational capabilities,” along with achievements in June’s war.
Israeli officials (via Times of Israel, N12, Axios) assess these deaths occurred in today’s joint US-Israel strikes: Pakpour (IRGC head), Shamkhani (Khamenei’s advisor; spelling variant), Nasirzadeh (Defense Minister), and military intel chief (likely Asaadi).
Iran attacked numerous countries in retaliation. The IRGC is not the same as the Iranian Military, called the Artesh. There is an intense rivalry between the two. The IRGC was set up to “guard” the Islamic clerics and ensure their revolution was to endure. It was set up alongside the secular Iranian military called the Artesh.
Given this divide, it is important to question whether the retaliatory attacks were carried out by the Iranian military in an attempt to bring in other nations to ensure the overthrow the Islamic Regime. The countries attacked as of today:
Israel — Northern Israel (building hit); additional barrages toward Tel Aviv/Jerusalem areas with interceptions.
United Arab Emirates — Abu Dhabi (Al Dhafra Air Base area; one civilian killed by debris) and Dubai vicinity.
Bahrain — Manama (US Navy 5th Fleet headquarters).
Qatar — Doha area (Al Udeid Air Base).
Kuwait — Kuwait City area (Ali Al Salem Air Base).
Jordan — Amman area (US assets; intercepted).
Syria — Suwayda (Sweida; residential building hit, four civilians killed).
Saudi Arabia — Riyadh area (reported targeting).
Oman and Iraq were not targeted in confirmed strikes.
If this was an intended attack against neighboring countries, then this was a massive miscalculation.
One month ago Saudi Arabia was Iran’s diplomatic shield in the Gulf. The kingdom that brokered the 2023 rapprochement with Tehran. The country that told Washington it would not participate. The monarchy that built its entire post-Vision 2030 foreign policy on balancing between Washington and Tehran without choosing. Iran forced the choice this morning by firing missiles at Riyadh.
The Saudi capital was attacked. The kingdom that spent three years rebuilding ties with Tehran just had Iranian ballistic missiles in its airspace. The country that told America it would stay neutral just watched its sovereignty violated by the same regime it was trying to protect from American strikes.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was quick to respond:
The Kingdom “condemns and denounces in the strongest terms the treacherous Iranian aggression.” It calls the missile strikes a “flagrant violation of the sovereignty” of the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, and Jordan. It pledges “full solidarity” with every attacked nation. And then the line that changes everything: Saudi Arabia is “placing all its capabilities to support them in all measures they take.”
All its capabilities. All measures.
That is not diplomatic language. That is a blank check written in the middle of a war. Whatever the UAE decides to do, Saudi Arabia just said it will support.
Whatever Bahrain’s response, Saudi will back it. Whatever Jordan, Qatar, or Kuwait determines is necessary, Riyadh just pledged everything it has
This AM, a former IDF intelligence officer that I know well told me that IDF has assassinated both the Supreme Leader of Iran as well as the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
There is no MSM confirmation of this, but that is the rumor from my source.
Thank you for your support. I am sheltering as are all Israelis. I started following you during the covid debacle and appreciate that you are still with me.