Rubio: 'Hardest Hits Yet to Come'

The current U.S. offensive, named "Operation Epic Fury," began on February 28, 2026, as a joint military operation with Israel. The opening day of strikes involved bombing over 1,000 targets in Iran and cost an estimated $779 million. The operation has included B-2 stealth bombers, various fighter jets, and Tomahawk cruise missiles. The attacks resulted in the death of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a strike on his compound. In response, Iran launched missile and drone attacks on Israel and U.S. military bases in several Middle Eastern countries, including Kuwait, where American service members were killed. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated the U.S. strikes were pre-emptive. Rubio explained the administration had intelligence that Israel was planning its own imminent attack, which would have triggered an Iranian retaliation against U.S. forces. The U.S. chose to strike first to prevent higher American casualties. The stated objectives of the U.S. operation are to destroy Iran's ballistic missile capabilities and its navy. While President Trump has mentioned regime change as a welcome outcome, and 49 top Iranian leaders have been killed, it is not a declared goal of the military mission. This escalation follows years of heightened tensions, including a 2018 U.S. withdrawal from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and a U.S.-Israeli assault on Iranian nuclear sites in June 2025. Last-ditch diplomatic talks to avert a larger military conflict were attempted in Geneva as recently as February 2026. The offensive has generated a deeply divided reaction in Congress, largely along party lines. While many Republicans have expressed support for the President's actions, numerous Democrats have called the strikes illegal for lacking congressional authorization, prompting calls for a vote on a war powers resolution to limit the president's military actions.