B-2 bombers and Tomahawk missiles. The head of the US military reveals the film of the operation “Epic Fury” and how the order sounded from Trump
The head of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, on Monday presented the initial plan for the first phase of the joint US-Israeli military operation against Iran, called “Epic Fury”, revealing that in addition to aerial bombardment by fighter jets and missiles, land-launched missiles fired from nearby countries were also used, writes Reuters.
Real time information about the war in Iran and what is happening in the region
On Friday, February 27, at 20:38 GMT, US Central Command received President Donald Trump's “final strike order”: “Operation 'Epic Fury' is approved. No withdrawals. Good luck!” the US military chief said.
After receiving the order, US forces made final preparations. Thus, the air defense batteries were checked to respond to the Iranian attacks, the pilots and crews repeated the instructions for the last time, the weapons were loaded and two attack groups of the aircraft carriers began to move towards the missile launch positions, the general stated, according to Agerpres.
The first actions were carried out by the US Cyber Command and the US Space Command to jam and disrupt the operation of Iranian radar and communications systems.
“Trigger Event”
However, the initial attack was not launched until Saturday morning, with “a trigger event carried out by the Israel Defense Forces, facilitated by the US intelligence community,” said General Dan Caine, referring to the Israeli bombing of the Tehran residence of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
According to information obtained by the US, a meeting of the ayatollah with dozens of senior Iranian political and military officials was to take place there. The operation was thus launched on Saturday morning with a surprise Israeli airstrike on Khamenei's residence.
The latter, members of his family and more than 40 officials who came to that meeting died as a result of the bombing.
Tomahawk missiles and B-2 long-range bombers
At the same time, American warships launched the first volleys of Tomahawk cruise missiles, and American ground forces fired precision weapons, land-launched missiles, from nearby countries, but not specified by the American general, these are probably countries in the Gulf area where the United States has military bases, bases that were then attacked by Iran with missiles and drones.
Simultaneously, more than a hundred aircraft that took off from these bases and from the aircraft carriers “formed a single synchronized attack wave.”
The American-Israeli attack hit more than a thousand targets in the first 24 hours, the head of the American army also said.
The initial phase of the attack focused on Iran's command and control infrastructure, naval forces, ballistic missile sites and intelligence infrastructure.
The operation later included US B-2 long-range bombers, which flew a 37-hour round-trip mission from the US.
Israel has separately conducted hundreds of missions against hundreds of targets. The combined impact of the attacks was that the US and Israel were able to achieve air superiority over Iran, the US general explained.
Trump's announcement and the “biggest surprise” he had
US President Donald Trump said on Monday, in his first press conference since the attack, that the military operation against Iran would last as long as necessary, possibly more than five weeks, adding that he had ordered the operation to neutralize Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs, which he claimed were rapidly developing without providing evidence.
Trump says US will continue to attack Iran: “The high tide hasn't come yet. It will come soon” / The four targets listed
Despite the heavy American-Israeli bombings, the Iranian regime shows no signs that its position would weaken and that a regime favorable to Washington could take its place, the main objective pursued by the US, notes the Western press.
The Iranian officials killed were quickly replaced, however, and despite calls from Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Iranians have stopped taking to the streets in anti-government protests.
Moreover, Iran retaliated with waves of missile and drone attacks against Israel and US bases located in the Gulf countries.
Trump admitted on Monday that the “biggest surprise” to him is the Iranian attacks on the Gulf countries, which he said now “want to fight”.
But without a ground intervention, airstrikes may be insufficient to bring about a power shift in Tehran, analysts and Western media say.
Speaking to the press on the third day of a joint US-Israeli bombing campaign, Trump assured that the “big wave” of the offensive against Iran was just around the corner and that he would not hesitate to send US troops into Iran “if necessary”.
