Name: Airlines halt flights to Middle East after Iran strikes | BBC News
Uploaded: 2026-02-28T23:02:37.000Z
Duration: 6 min 16 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

You're watching BBC News and our live special coverage of the breaking news this hour as the United States and Israel launch airstrikes across Iran.

President Trump says the United States and Israel have launched what he's called a major combat operation.

President Trump says the objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime.

He says Iran can never have a nuclear weapon and he accuses the republic of trying to rebuild its nuclear program.

The president has also said there may be American casualties as a result of the operation that he's dubbed epic Fury.

Bahrain says the US Base has come under attack.

Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, Iraq and Saudi Arabia also have had missiles fired into their countries.

We are also getting reports this hour of one person killed in the United Arab Emirates and four people in Syria from missile debris.

In a video statement, the Israeli prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu says the attack is to remove an existential threat to his country.

But throughout the morning, we've been hearing air raid sirens and explosions across Israeli cities.

Israel's Defense Minister Katz has declared a special and permanent state of emergency.

It's closed the country's airspace and all schools are currently closed.

Israeli Defense forces say dozens of missiles are being fired into the country.

70,000 reservists have been called up in Iran.

The strikes are across multiple locations.

Media reports say the blasts have been heard in Isfahan, Karaj, Karban Shah, Qom and the port city of Bushehr.

Mehabar Airport just outside Tehran has also come under attack.

We're getting pictures of large scale bombing in Tehran.

The Iranian media says at least 53 people have been killed at a school in the south of the country.

An official told the Reuters news agency that Tehran's retaliation and the response will be crushing.

Israeli officials say Iran's supreme leader, the Ayatollah Khamenei and Iran's president were targeted.

Seven missiles have hit the presidential palace and there have been strikes around the supreme leader's compound.

The the attack follows weeks of tension in the region with US Forces massing around Iran.

While Joe Inwood has been looking at all the developments so far and he gave us this report after weeks of buildup, weeks of threats, this morning the US And Israel left no room for doubt.

Footage is still emerging amidst an Internet blackout.

But it's clear that a vast air campaign is being carried out right across the country.

The United States military is undertaking a massive and ongoing operation to prevent this very wicked radical dictatorship from Threatening America and our core national security interests.

We are going to destroy their missiles and raise their missile industry to the ground.

Well, Iran's ballistic missiles will be top of any list.

An attempt to blunt their ability to respond.

Iran's Navy, seen here on exercise last week, will also be seen as a soft target.

The key question, will they kill the President, Massoud Posseskian, or the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei?

Iran promised to respond with crushing force.

Within an hour of the strikes, air raid sirens could be heard over Israel, the country's Iron Dome, missile defenses already in action.

The Prime Minister warned his people there would be a price to pay.

But the risk of doing nothing is greater because if we do not act, we will get a nuclear Iran.

An Iran with tens of thousands of ballistic missiles.

Some of those ballistic missiles have already been fired in response.

The US has a vast military footprint across the Middle east and already impacts have been seen at the US Naval base in Bahrain, headquarters of the fifth Fleet.

The last time Iran struck, it was telegraphed in advance and largely performative.

There have also been reports of drones being intercepted over Iraq.

Knowing exactly what is happening inside Iran is difficult at this point with most communications down.

According to the information obtained from these two corrupt regimes, their operations in Tehran and other cities will continue.

Therefore, as much as possible, while maintaining calm, travel to other cities to stay safe from the evils of these two regimes.

In January, when widespread street protests gripped the country, President Trump promised help was on its way before taking no immediate action.

In today's speech, he said that help had finally arrived.

When we are finished, take over your government.

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.

Iran now faces the biggest military buildup in the Middle east for more than 20 years and a US administration which has explicitly called for its destruction.

It seems likely this conflict will escalate in dangerous and unpredictable ways.