by WorldTribune Staff, March 1, 2026 Real World News
“Maximum pressure” met “Epic Fury.”
President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran began in February of 2025:
“For far too long — all the way back to 1979, to be exact — nations have tolerated Iran’s destructive and destabilizing behavior in the Middle East and beyond. Those days are over. Iran has been the leading sponsor of terrorism, and their pursuit of nuclear weapons threatens the civilized world. We will never let that happen,” the president said at the time.
At 1:15 a.m. ET on February 28, 2026, Trump unleashed Operation Epic Fury which aims to prevent Iran’s nuclear proliferation, neutralize its missile arsenal, and achieve regional stability through the degradation of the Iranian regime’s leadership and military capacity.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and dozens of the nation’s political and military leaders were killed in the joint U.S.-Israel operation.
Trump posted to 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. He was unable to avoid our Intelligence and Highly Sophisticated Tracking Systems and, working closely with Israel, there was not a thing he, or the other leaders that have been killed along with him, could do.
“This is the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their Country. We are hearing that many of their IRGC, Military, and other Security and Police Forces, no longer want to fight, and are looking for Immunity from us. As I said last night, ‘Now they can have Immunity, later they only get Death!’ Hopefully, the IRGC and Police will peacefully merge with the Iranian Patriots, and work together as a unit to bring back the Country to the Greatness it deserves.
“That process should soon be starting in that, not only the death of Khamenei but the Country has been, in only one day, very much destroyed and, even, obliterated. The heavy and pinpoint bombing, however, will continue, uninterrupted throughout the week or, as long as necessary to achieve our objective of PEACE THROUGHOUT THE MIDDLE EAST AND, INDEED, THE WORLD!”
Related: President Trump’s statement on ‘major combat operations’ in Iran: ‘We’re doing this for the future’ , February 28, 2026
The CIA tracked Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, for months to gain awareness of his habits and the places he visited, according to a New York Times report. A person familiar with the U.S. operations told the paper that the agency learned that Iranian officials would be meeting Saturday morning in Teheran and that the supreme leader would attend.
The U.S. shared the intelligence with Israel, people briefed on the matter told the Times, and went ahead with the operation that they had been planning.
The operation to target Khamenei involved thousands of hours of surveillance and signal intercepts. The U.S. and Israel waited for the opportunity when Khamenei, Iran’s president, and senior military command gathered in a single location at the same time. That moment was 8:15 Saturday morning, Iran time.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth called “Operation Epic Fury” the “most lethal, most complex, and most-precision aerial operation in history.”
“The Iranian regime had their chance, yet refused to make a deal — and now they are suffering the consequences,” Hegseth said on X. “For almost fifty years, Iran has targeted and killed Americans, always seeking the world’s most powerful weapons to further their radical cause. Last night, unlike any previous president, President Trump began dealing with this cancer.”
He said the Defense Department “will not tolerate powerful missiles targeting the American people,” adding that the operation will destroy Iran’s missiles, missile production and its navy.
“The United States did not start this conflict, but we will finish it. If you kill or threaten Americans anywhere in the world — as Iran has — then we will hunt you down, and we will kill you,” Hegseth said.
Related: Geostrategy-Direct Reports on U.S. Showdown with Iran Regime
Related: Memo to Khamenei: What is Team Trump thinking? Here are clues, February 6, 2026
2026 Contract With Our Readers
Day 2: The U.S. ‘did not start this conflict, but we will finish it’ added by Editor Two on
View all posts by Editor Two →