The program targets field-scale demonstrations of enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) for electricity generation, along with drilling to characterize and confirm hydrothermal and next-gen prospects nationwide.
The funding splits into two initial open topics: up to $100 million for EGS field tests and $71.5 million for exploratory drilling. Letters of intent are due March 27, with full applications due April 30. The move directly supports President Trump’s Executive Order “Unleashing American Energy,” according to the agency.
Geothermal currently supplies roughly 4 GW of U.S. capacity, but represents only about 0.3% of total power generation. DOE estimates the resource base could support 300 GW or more by 2050 with technology improvements, delivering firm, 24/7 baseload power that complements intermittent renewables and meets rising demand from data centers and AI infrastructure.
Recent studies show that some of the best locations in the United States for new geothermal sites are in the western part of the country and some of the southern states.
Assistant Secretary Kyle Haustveit of the Office of Hydrocarbons and Geothermal Energy stated the initiative will “directly support our commitments to advance energy addition, reduce energy costs for American families and businesses, and unleash American energy dominance and innovation.”
One of the only pure-play publicly traded geothermal companies is Ormat Technologies (ORA), which develops, owns, and operates geothermal power plants primarily in the U.S. and internationally. The company has recently expanded via long-term power purchase agreements with data-center operators (Google), underscoring commercial interest in reliable geothermal supply.
Some Democratic appropriators are pitching a fit, noting the $146.5 million tranche exceeds the $118 million Congress appropriated for geothermal in FY2025 and requesting further review. Proponents counter that successful pilots could unlock far larger private investment and help diversify the grid beyond wind, solar, and gas.
This is a lightly edited transcript of today’s video from Daily Signal Senior Contributor Victor Davis Hanson.
Susan Rice, the former U.N. ambassador under the Obama administration, national security adviser, and also served in various capacities with former President Joe Biden, gave an interview on a podcast with Preet Bharara. He is that very liberal federal prosecutor that developed quite a name for himself in New York, going after, I think, targeted a lot of people based on their politics.
But nonetheless, it was one of the strangest interviews because she flat out, candidly, with no reservations, sent a message to people who were conservative, Republican, or Trump supporters, and she used “Game of Thrones” imagery. “You’ve taken the need of [President] Donald Trump. You have allowed him to bully you.”
She was talking about the so-called elites in the academic world, in the corporate world, in the institutional world. “And we’re not going to forget,” she says, “that you did that. And you better have your documents ready because when we come back into power, we’re going to … ” And the implication was: take you to court, make you pay, shake you.
I don’t know what she was talking about, but it was a direct threat.
But here’s what’s strange about it: Start with Susan Rice herself.
If you look back through her latter years with the Obama administration, it was nothing but a complete disaster.
She was the one that, you remember, that the CIA and the Obama administration wheeled out on a Sunday afternoon to explain the Benghazi attack that killed the four Americans at the annex and the consulate.
Five times she told the American people that those attacks were spontaneous, and they were because of some right-wing Coptic video maker who caused it all. That was not true.
That was a preplanned, either an al-Qaeda or ISIS or some type of radical Islamic preplanned assault.
People knew what they were doing. They were well armed. They were well organized.
Why did she go out five times and mislead the American people?
Because the Obama administration had been warned prior that their security was too lax and they did not want to give the impression that that attack was preventable, which it was.
She was the one that also assured us, Americans, that when former President Barack Obama issued those red lines and said if Bashar al-Assad and his Syrian forces move WMD around or still have it, that’s going to be intolerable, i.e., I’m going to take it out.
When they didn’t do that and they backed out, and we knew they had it, she lied to the American people and said, essentially, that they no longer had WMD.
Remember also she wrote, just wrapping up her career, she wrote a little memo to herself in the last weeks of the Obama administration about Michael Flynn. She went to a meeting, and it was pretty clear in that meeting they had planned to subvert the incoming administration with the false narrative of Russian collusion and that somehow Mike Flynn, the national security adviser-designate, had been colluding with the Russians, but that was not true.
But then she wrote a fake memo to herself suggesting that they hadn’t really done that, that it was all up and up. And then, of course, she and others had requested the unmasking of people related with Trump in otherwise confidential files. So, she doesn’t have a good record.
That’s why she didn’t have a high-profile position in the Biden administration.
But there is also some real problems with what she said. She never said to corporate America, to the academic world, to the institutional world, to the political world what they had done wrong. She just said, “We’re going to come back. People don’t like Trump. It’s our turn to come back. We’re not going to play by the old rules. No, no, no. We’re going to be tough. You better get your … ”
Well, what had they done? What had they done? If she’s implying they let people off, or they laid people off that were associated with DEI, that was in accordance with the Supreme Court ruling barring race-based preferences in academic life.
If she means that Donald Trump does not have the authority to issue an executive order stopping DEI, the whole idea of executive orders goes back to the beginning, almost to the republic.
But more importantly, Barack Obama was the one who said, “I have a pen and I have a phone and I’m going to use it.” And that’s when he lost control of Congress and he issued, up until that time, almost the greatest number of executive orders.
So, if she’s not going to tell us that anybody committed a felony or misdemeanor, and yet she’s going to punish them, that doesn’t sound too legitimate.
How does she know, secondly, that she’s going to come back into power? The polls are very volatile. Donald Trump has made, as we’ve talked before, a vast investment in the economy. Inflation is down, unemployment is down, gross domestic product is solid. Foreign investment is at record levels. So is energy production.
And when the “Big, Beautiful Bill” is fully enacted and filters its way through the economy, you’re going to see enormous stimuli given reductions in the tax code, reductions in the deductions that you have to make for the IRS, no tax on tips, etc.
It’s going to have an enormous effect, and it’s going to come into effect before the midterms.
We don’t know what the world is going to look like abroad in Ukraine, in Cuba, in Iran. It may be that Donald Trump is able to solve two or three or all of them. November’s a long way away, so I wouldn’t be so sure, Susan Rice, that you will win the November elections, much less, if you are alluding, as I think you were, to 2028.
If you heard Marco Rubio’s speech to the Munich Security Conference and you’ve seen JD Vance in the 2024 election take down almost every hostile reporter that interviewed him, they’re going to be a very formidable team.
And I don’t see anything quite like that with Gavin Newsom.
I don’t see it with AOC, especially after her performance at the Munich Security Conference.
I don’t think Pete Buttigieg is a viable candidate.
So, we’ve seen Kamala Harris, very uninspiring.
Maybe Josh Shapiro. But given the antisemitic nature of the new Democratic Socialist Party, I doubt, as we saw with the vice-presidential selection in 2024, I doubt that he would have a chance to be the nominee of the new Democratic Party.
And finally, when you talk about retribution, where have you been, Susan Rice?
Who were the people who tried to take Donald Trump off 25, 26 state ballots … unprecedented? Who were the people who for the first time in history impeached a president twice? Who were the people who tried him as a private citizen when he was out of office in the Senate? Tried to convict him.
Who were the people behind the Letitia James frivolous lawsuit that tried to bankrupt him with almost a $500 million fine because he took a loan out with a Deutsche Bank and they claimed that he overvalued the assets, which the Deutsche Bank said he didn’t? That he paid the interest on time to the profit of the bank who had no complaint?
Who was Alvin Bragg trying to shoehorn a federal offense onto a state law and said that Donald Trump’s non-disclosure with Stormy Daniels was a federal campaign violation? Who were the people behind the crazy E. Jean Carroll persecution lawsuit that may have cost Donald Trump $90 million?
Who were the people behind Jack Smith, who was knee deep along with the FBI and knew about that with Merrick Garland, the raiding, the Mar-a-Lago … the home of Donald Trump?
And the idea that Donald Trump violated some confidential agreement with the government when an archival dispute when Joe Biden had taken materials that were confidential and classified from his days in the Senate in three or four, much less secure, places?
Who’s behind all that? Who’s behind Fani Willis when a person calls the registrar and says, “I know there’s votes there, find them,” as a lot of candidates do to every registrar when they feel that they’re not adequately looking for votes that have been cast. There was a lot of things to be suspicious about in Georgia and turned that into a felony.
All of those prosecutors were politically minded, biased, and ultimately found themselves in their own ethical dilemmas. But who did that? My point is, Susan Rice, your party has already taken out retribution. You were the ones that politicized the Department of Justice. You were the ones, going back to 2015 and ’16 with Russian collusion, 2020 with laptop disinformation.
Your entire career of the Democratic Party—your career, Hillary Clinton’s career, Barack Obama—has been to destroy Donald Trump. So, we don’t need lectures on retribution. You’ve already tried to practice retribution against Trump. And I don’t think you’re going to be in a position of power necessarily in the Congress in 2026, and I have a pretty good idea you won’t come back to power in 2028.
But otherwise, you really displayed your true nature and put your cards on the table. And I don’t think that your opponents are going be naive once they understand what your true intentions are, which are completely vengeful and incoherent.
CCP-Linked NGO Network Prepares “Emergency Protests” In US After Trump’s Iran Strikes Jeopardize Oil Flows To China
Planned demonstrations branded “Hands Off Iran” or “Stop The War On Iran” are scheduled to take place this afternoon in major cities across the U.S. From New York to Los Angeles, left-wing organizers have circulated digital flyers, coordinated social media blasts, and activated email lists urging supporters to mobilize within hours of the announcement. This activation alert for the protest-industrial complex occurred shortly after the Department of War’s “Operation Epic Furry” began in Iran.
To the average person, this afternoon’s protests may look like a groundswell of outrage over the U.S. strikes on Iran, especially given that the Trump administration campaigned on no new foreign wars. But the speed, uniform messaging, and coordinated national footprint suggest something highly more organized – and familiar for readers, as we’ve diligently followed the activities of the protest-industrial complex.
This is the same mobilization network that has repeatedly demonstrated its ability to move tens of thousands of social justice warriors into the streets in under 12 hours.
Earlier this year, that same protest infrastructure powered nationwide pro-Maduro demonstrations almost immediately after developments in Venezuela made national headlines. In the months prior, overlapping coalitions were instrumental in organizing the anti-Israel encampments at Columbia University and other campuses, as well as anti-ICE demonstrations in Los Angeles and other sanctuary cities. The causes shift. The slogans change. The logistical infrastructure – or the machine that makes this spark – remains the same.
What we are witnessing is not a loose collection of anti-war activists or 1970s-style hippies responding independently to global events. It is a coordinated ecosystem of dark-money funded nonprofits, advocacy groups, campus organizations, and ideological networks that can rapidly repurpose whatever geopolitical flashpoint dominates the news cycle. From the George Floyd riots to pro-Palestine protests to anti-Tesla protests to anti-Trump protests and anti-Elon Musk protests to anti-DOGE protests to anti-ICE protests/riots, these movements are not dedicated to a single issue. They are part of omni-cause mobilizers, sowing chaos deep within the nation’s core.
Whether the banner reads “Free Palestine,” “Hands Off Venezuela,” “Abolish ICE,” or now “Hands Off Iran,” the same names frequently appear on sponsorship lists. The same fiscal sponsors provide infrastructure. The same activist pipelines appear.
This brings us to far-left billionaire Neville Roy Singham, whom The New York Times recently described as “known as a socialist benefactor of far-left causes” and as someone who “works closely with the Chinese government media machine and is financing its propaganda worldwide.”
Singham’s network, shortly after Operation Epic Furry began, announced on X “New York City Emergency Protest” to “Stop The war On Iran.”
“The U.S. and Israel are carrying out an unprovoked, illegal bombing campaign on Iran. This war serves no one but a tiny elite and oil executives and is a continuation of more than two years of genocide in Palestine and US-Israeli aggressions throught the region,” the People’s Forum, a Manhattan far-left non-profit also linked to Singham, wrote on X.
Other left-wing groups on the flyer tied to Singham’s network include the ANSWER Coalition and CODEPINK. Also on the list are the Democratic Socialists of America, American Muslims for Palestine, the National Iranian American Council, the Palestinian Youth Movement, Black Alliance for Peace, and 50501.
🚨 EMERGENCY DAY OF ACTION IN NYC TO STOP THE WAR WITH IRAN: TODAY, 2/28 at 2PM in Times Square
The U.S. and Israel are carrying out an unprovoked, illegal bombing campaign on Iran. This war serves no one but a tiny elite and oil executives and is a continuation of more than two… pic.twitter.com/iG3mwHTOLb
The Network Contagion Research Institute published a recent note stating, “Singham and his wife Jodie Evans, a power couple within the global far-left movement with close ties to the CCP.” Evans is the co-founder of CodePink.
And there’s this.
🚨Cellphone Locations Link Far-Left Protest Orgs to Iran & China
Phones visiting the ANSWER Coalition and Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) also visited Iran and the Chinese consulate
These groups are
-central to street resistance
-allegedly funded by a CCP propagandist pic.twitter.com/3rlhTC8vEB
The same playbook by the protest industrial complex, surrounded by Singham’s network, was used shortly after the U.S. captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro:
This pattern reflects something more strategic than traditional protest politics. It resembles what Seamus Bruner of the Government Accountability Institute pointed out during a recent congressional oversight hearing: $60 million in dark money that flowed into NGOs tied to Minnesota protests. Translation: highly organized.
A witness at my hearing CONFIRMED that at least $60 million in dark money is funding the Minnesota protests
Bruner explained to Trump last fall during a roundtable on ANTIFA about more than $100 million of dark money that flowed into NGOs to sow chaos nationwide.
Musk Says “Far More Than $100 Million” U.S. Taxpayer Funds Funneled Into NGOs Fueling Chaos; Trump Briefed On Dark-Money Networks https://t.co/xGr6Z4ruEN
Today, influence operations do not necessarily look like espionage movie thrillers. They look like nonprofits. They look like digital organizing toolkits. They look like rapid-response coalitions capable of shaping media narratives and sentiment polls before most Americans have even processed the event.
Why would the China-linked Singham network be so focused on sparking U.S. protests just hours after the developments in Venezuela and, as we are now learning, the earlier strike on Iran?The answer may be oil: just as with Venezuelan flows, China now faces the risk of losing another heavily discounted crude oil stream, this time from Iran.
China purchased 1.38m bpd of Iranian oil last year, on average. This campaign will hurt their access to discounted shorthaul barrels, and therefore their energy security. pic.twitter.com/tJATu2nUQF
Recall that The People’s Forum’s X post immediately pointed out the oil issue.
That is because China is likely infuriated that its access to cheap oil flows may be coming to an end. As the NYT noted, Singham “works closely with the Chinese government media machine to finance propaganda worldwide.” That may help explain why Singham-linked nonprofits are front and center in organizing protests aimed at shaping U.S. sentiment whenever Trump takes steps that pressure China. We saw it with Venezula, now Iran…
U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly said the IRS erred when it shared the taxpayer information with ICE and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as part of an agreement between the two agencies in a bid to identify illegal immigrants.
Earlier in February, an IRS official, Dottie Romo, issued a sworn statement saying the IRS provided the information for about 47,000 taxpayers to DHS, which had requested the information of a total of 1.28 million people.
In Thursday’s 13-page opinion, Kollar-Kelly cited Romo’s statement as part of her ruling against the two agencies, calling it a “significant development” in the case.
The judge wrote that the IRS violated a confidentiality law “approximately 42,695 times by disclosing last known taxpayer addresses to ICE.”
The IRS had given “confidential taxpayer addresses to ICE in response to requests from ICE that the IRS now admits were legally deficient. The Court’s prior decision to indicate that it would supplement the record on appeal with the Romo Declaration reflects the significance of this new information,” she wrote.
“In other words, the IRS not only failed to ensure that ICE’s request for confidential taxpayer address information met the statutory requirements, but this failure led the IRS to disclose confidential taxpayer addresses to ICE in situations where ICE’s request for that information was patently deficient.”
In a filing in mid-February, Romo wrote that the IRS had told DHS in January to take steps to “prevent the disclosure or dissemination, and to ensure appropriate disposal, of any data provided to ICE by IRS based on incomplete or insufficient address information” and that the agency also requested DHS’s assistance in moving to remediate the matter.
“DHS and ICE have confirmed to Treasury and IRS that they will comply with federal law and the MOU in addressing this data issue,” Romo added in the sworn statement, using an acronym for a memorandum of understanding between the two agencies.
The agencies have agreed they “will not inspect, view, use, copy, distribute, rely on, or otherwise act on any return information that has been obtained from or disclosed by IRS pursuant to the MOU.”
In November, Kollar-Kotelly blocked the data-sharing agreement between ICE and the IRS, which the Trump administration had proposed.
A data-sharing agreement signed last April by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem allowed ICE to submit names and addresses of illegal immigrants inside the United States to the IRS for cross-verification against tax records.
Earlier this week, a three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit declined to issue a preliminary injunction for the immigrants’ rights group, Centro de Trabajadores Unidos, and other nonprofits that are suing the federal government to stop implementation of the IRS–ICE agreement.
In declining the preliminary injunction request, Judge Harry Edwards wrote that the nonprofit groups “are unlikely to succeed on the merits of their claim,” since the information the agencies are sharing isn’t covered by the IRS privacy statute.
Defiant Iranian FM Says Regime Change Will Be ‘Mission Impossible’
There have been more US and Israeli strikes on Tehran into the afternoon and evening hours local time, suggesting that the aerial operation will be sustained, at least for the time being.
There have been rumors flying all day that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been killed, which Iranian officials have firmly denied. Many analysts believe that full regime change in Iran cannot happen unless there are US forces on the ground, and this prospect would be immensely unpopular among the American public.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Saturday remarks to NBC has said the Ayatollah is alive “as far as I know”. But he took it a step further in declaring that changing the Iranian government is “mission impossible”.
“You cannot do regime change while millions of people are supporting the so called regime,” he said.
The top diplomat underscored that millions of government supporters took to the streets upon the recent anniversary of the 1979 revolution.
Like in Syria before under Assad, Western mainstream media almost never gives coverage to such ‘pro-regime’ demonstrations, as it would add too much complexity to the dominant Western narrative.
The Western MSM likes to manufacture a simplistic ‘goodies’ vs ‘baddies’ narrative when it comes to ‘rogue states’ – especially in the Middle East, and will never let careful, layered, historical analysis get in the way.
“Yes, there are also people who are complaining, but they are strong supporters of the regime,” Araghchi said. “And then we have a very well established political structure.”
As for whether the Ayatollah will survive a purely air war, the chances are good. Since the June war especially, the Iranians have had ample time for wartime contingency operations.
It’s likely none but Khamenei’s tightest circle knows where he is, as he commands the IRGC from a hidden underground bunker somewhere.
Iran is a nation of over 90 million people, and the size of half the European continent, or up to one-third of the continental United States land mass. The Ayatollah could be anywhere.
Two top commanders have been confirmed killed: Iran’s defense minister and the head of the IRCG forces. But like with prior instances, these positions will be quickly filled.
Ayatollah Killed After Strikes On Iran, Israel Claims
Summary: Currently, the biggest question is where’s the Ayatollah? Iran state TV teased an imminent speech to address the nation after the major US-Israeli attack, and in the wake of Iran’s retaliation on US regional bases – and the Gulf countries hosting them. There were earlier rumors that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed, but nothing is verifiable. He could be deep in a hidden underground bunker, at a command post, known only by his closest IRGC associates. There are also unverified reports that members of his own family may have been killed. Meanwhile in the US some Democratic Congressional leaders are demanding an immediate War Powers vote, and condemn the Trump-ordered attack as an unconstitutional war on a foreign nation which has not directly attacked the US.
US official confirms to Fox that US believes Khamenei and 5-10 top Iranian leaders killed in initial Israeli strike on compound; agree with Israel’s intelligence assessment.
No U.S. casualties reported, 12 hours after Washington launched Operation Epic Fury alongside Israel, targeting Iran’s security and military infrastructure, CENTCOM says. Al Jazeera reporting over 200 killed in Iran. Likely the death toll will climb.
AFP: Two Israeli TV networks report photo of Khamenei’s body shown to Trump, Netanyahu
Israeli ambassador to Washington Yechiel Leiter told U.S. officials that Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei has been killed in the Israeli strike on his compound, a source with knowledge said (Axios).
Jerusalem Post (unconfirmed): Israeli officials informed Khamenei assassinated in Iran strike, body said to be found in rubble. Iranian authorities themselves have not said this, and an information block/fog of war inside Iran persists.
Israeli official says Khamenei killed; Trump: Regime really didn’t want a deal
PressTV: The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has announced that it destroyed a sophisticated American radar system stationed in Qatar as part of its retaliatory attacks targeting US bases and assets in the region.
“I can go long and take over the whole thing, or end it in two or three days and tell the Iranians: ‘See you again in a few years if you start rebuilding [your nuclear and missile programs],” Trump said in a five-minute phone interview from Mar-a-Lago (Axios).
Trump calls for regime change. Will he commit ground troops to do it? Meanwhile Netanyahu addresses Iranian people, claiming “help has arrived.”
Iran signals could be ready for de-escalation after regional missile barrage: Tehran indicates it does not want further escalation following retaliatory missile strikes on at least five countries, including Israel.Iranian state TV cancels a long-promised speech by Ayatollah Khamenei. An Israeli official says regime leaders cannot currently locate him. US strikes appear to have continued in waves on Saturday.
Iran targets US military sites, not US mainland: Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi tells NBC News that Iran is striking US military facilities in the region, not “Americans in their land,” and says Tehran is ready to talk once US-Israeli strikes stop. He states Khamenei is alive “as far as I know” and confirms two commanders were killed but senior leadership remains in place.
Senior Iranian commanders reported killed: Reuters cites sources saying Defense Minister Amir Nasirzadeh and IRGC commander Mohammed Pakpour were killed in Israeli strikes.
Israeli strike allegedly hit girls’ elementary school in southern Iran: An airstrike in Minab, Hormozgan province, struck a primary school for girls, killing dozens, according to state media, underscoring the likely mounting civilian toll from the large-scale US-Israeli bombardment of Iran.
Regional panic and military buildup: Gulf residents rush to stockpile supplies; the UAE reassures the public about reserves. The UK confirms aircraft are supporting US-Israeli operations.
Operation Epic Fury expands: The US-Israeli campaign continues striking Iranian military infrastructure, senior leaders, and high-value targets across multiple cities. Satellite imagery shows severe damage to Khamenei’s compound in Tehran; his whereabouts remain unclear.
Trump announced start of “major combat operations”: In an eight-minute address, President Trump says the US is conducting a “massive and ongoing operation” to destroy Iran’s missile capabilities and demands Iranian forces surrender or face “certain death.”
Iran further threatens regional bases: Iranian Armed Forces spokesman Gen. Abolfazl Shekarchi warns that any regional base used by the US or Israel will be targeted. Reports emerge of Iranian retaliatory strikes across the Middle East.
Iran launches regional retaliation: Tehran fires missiles at Israel and US-linked assets in Qatar, UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Syria, Jordan, and Iraq. Explosions hit Tehran and other Iranian cities. Multiple countries close their airspace.
Coordinated US-Israel strikes dubbed ‘Operation Epic Fury’: Washington and Tel Aviv launch joint attacks on Iranian targets after months of planning, following failed indirect nuclear talks. Trump frames the operation as eliminating “imminent threats” and calls on Iranians to “take over your government.”
* * *
Update (10:00ET): Will the chaos be contained, after Iran unleashed retaliatory missiles on at least five regional countries, including Israel? Iran is quickly signaling that it’s not willing to escalate this further, hoping for a halt in the US-Israeli operation:
Iran is attacking U.S. military facilities in the Middle East region and not “Americans in their land,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in his exclusive interview with NBC News.
He added that Tehran was interested in de-escalation and ready to talk once the joint U.S.-Israeli strikes end.
Amid rumors that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei could be dead, after direct strikes on his main headquarters in the capital, Araghchi said that he is still alive “as far as I know.”
Araghchi is directly signaling the American side via an exclusive interview with NBC News. He spoke live from Tehran Saturday morning. He acknowledged that “two commanders had died but senior officials in the regime had survived including the head of the judiciary and the parliament speaker.”
“All high ranking officials are alive,” he said. “So everybody is now in its position, and we are handling this situation, and everything is fine.”
Iranian Defense Minister Amir Nasirzadeh and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Mohammed Pakpour were killed in Israeli strikes, according to two sources briefed on Israel’s military operations and one regional source, cited in Reuters.
As for finding the Ayatollah, he is probably deep in a hidden underground bunker that no one but his closest IRGC advisers know about. Americans need to be reminded that this is a country of over 90 million people and geographically is the size of half the European continent.
Bloomberg writes on the prospect of full regime change, which would likely require US boots on the ground:
Conflicting reports are circulating about who in Iran was targeted and whether the attacks were successful. If senior Iranian officials were indeed killed, that would be significant. But it doesn’t mean the end of the Islamic Republic.
While the Supreme Leader is the ultimate decision-maker, he isn’t the only one, and succession planning has been underway for years. Similarly, the Revolutionary Guards are deeply embedded across political, economic, and security sectors. Targeting their leadership would weaken them, but it wouldn’t dismantle the organization altogether.
Gulf populations in panic mode, via Bloomberg:
In Dubai, some delivery services have been suspended as people flood supermarkets to buy water and other food essentials. Stockpiling prompted UAE authorities to issue a statement to reassure residents and the millions of expatriates that there is ample supply.
The UAE said its strategic reserve of essential commodities is “robust, comprehensive and diversified and asked people to refrain from stockpiling.
The UK has meanwhile confirmed that it has planes in the air supporting the US-Israeli operation.
* * *
Update (0845ET):
Iranian military officials said they would deliver a “historic lesson” to Israel and the U.S. in response to the strikes, as Operation Epic Fury, the U.S.-Israeli campaign designated by the Department of War, continues to hit military infrastructure, top army leaders, and other high-value targets across multiple Iranian cities.
Earlier footage allegedly showed the Iranian supreme leader’s compound being struck by what appeared to be U.S. or Israeli missiles or air-delivered munitions.
New Airbus satellite imagery reportedly shows the compound in Tehran sustained severe damage; it remains unclear whether Ayatollah Khamenei was inside at the time of the strike.
Shortly after Operation Epic Fury began, President Trump announced in an eight-minute video on Truth Social that “major combat operations” had begun.
“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,” the president said. “We are going to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground.”
Trump continued, “To the members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, the armed forces, and all of the police, I say tonight that you must lay down your weapons and have complete immunity or, in the alternative, face certain death.”
Operation Epic Fury comes amid the U.S. building a massive military presence in the region (read report). Also, one day after indirect nuclear talks (read here) between the U.S. and Iran did not end so well, according to Trump.
U.S. officials told NBC reporter Courtney Kube that Israel has targeted Iranian leaders, while the U.S. has targeted Iran’s ballistic missile and nuclear high-value facilities.
There are reports that IRGC Commander Mohammad Pakpour was killed by Israeli strikes.
According to assessments, Mohammad Pakpour, the Commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), has been eliminated by Israeli decapitation strikes on Tehran. pic.twitter.com/KpNyrNuWgh
Gen. Abolfazl Shekarchi, the spokesman for Iran’s Armed Forces, told state media that any military base used by the U.S. and Israel in the region will be targeted. There have already been reports of Iranian retaliatory strikes across the region.
Sources tell CNN that Operation Epic Fury was the result of “months of joint planning” and will involve several days of attacks.
* * *
The U.S. and Israel have conducted coordinated strikes on Iranian targets, which President Trump described in an eight-minute video on Truth Social as the start of “major combat operations” aimed at defending the U.S. by “eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime.”
“The hour for your freedom is at hand,” President Trump told the Iranian people in the video. “When we’re finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will be probably your only chance for generations.”
President Donald J. Trump on the United States military combat operations in Iran: pic.twitter.com/LimJmpLkgZ
President Trump is expected to address the American people on Saturday morning following the second U.S. strike on Iranian soil in less than a year. The first strike took place in June 2025, when U.S. stealth bombers dropped bombs on three nuclear sites inside Iran.
The focus on the Saturday morning strikes (Brent crude futures are closed), the president said, was to ensure Americans “will never be threatened by a nuclear-armed Iran.”
Bloomberg headline: Oil Tankers Avoiding Vital Hormuz Strait After US Bombs Iran
Oil Tankers Avoiding Vital Hormuz Strait After US Bombs Iran: BBG
In markets, with Brent crude futures closed, Bitcoin was hammered from the $65k level, down to the $63k level.
US and Israeli strikes on Iran come one day after the latest round of indirect nuclear talks between Iran and the US, about which the president said he was “not happy with the progress,” adding: “They don’t want to say the key words: ‘We’re not going to have a nuclear weapon.'”
A US official told CNN that the US strikes were focused on Iranian military targets but did not comment on the ongoing operation. Another official told the outlet that the objective of the strikes was to address the Iranian military threat. The first official said the US military had put countermeasures in place to protect its personnel in the region.
AP News reports:
The first strikes of the attack appeared to target the compound home to Iran’s 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in downtown Tehran. It wasn’t immediately clear if he was there at the time. Smoke could be seen rising from the Iranian capital.
Shortly after the strike, the US Department of Defense wrote on X, “Operation Epic Fury.” For context, last year’s strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities was “Operation Midnight Hammer.”
Iranian state-run media outlets Fars and IRNA reported strikes in Isfahan, Qom, Lorestan, Karaj, Kermanshah, and Tabriz, as well as in the capital, Tehran.
Israel described the strikes against Iran as “a broad, coordinated, and joint operation against the regime” that was planned for months.
Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a recorded message that Israeli military action against Iran would be “much more powerful” than Israel’s 12-day operation against Tehran last year.
In response, Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard launched a wave of drones and missiles targeting Israel. There were other reports that the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet command center in the host nation, Bahrain, was targeted by Iranian missiles.
Other reports suggest Iran launched projectiles at US bases and targets beyond Bahrain, and also in Kuwait and Qatar.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry wrote on X, “The time has come to defend the homeland and confront the enemy’s military assault. Just as we were prepared for negotiations, we have been even more prepared for defense at all times. The armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will decisively respond to the aggressors with full authority.”
Russia Condemns US Attack On Iran, Warns Of Possible ‘Radiological Catastrophe’
As fully predictable, Moscow has blasted the major overnight and early morning US-Israeli strikes on Iran, calling the attack “a preplanned and unprovoked act of armed aggression against a sovereign and independent U.N. member state” and has demanded an immediate halt to the military campaign and a return to diplomacy.
The Foreign Ministry in a statement on Telegram accused Washington and Tel Aviv of “hiding behind” concerns about Iran’s nuclear program while actually pursuing regime change, as also cited in The Associated Press.
Moscow is further warning of Iraq-style catastrophe and a regional domino effect which could unleash terrorism and chaos for years to come. The attacks could trigger “humanitarian, economic and possibly radiological catastrophe” in the region, and charged the US and Israel of “plunging the Middle East into an abyss of uncontrolled escalation.”
However, the Kremlin is unlikely to come to Iran’s rescue in any direct way, given it is carefully trying to balance and restore relations with Washington in the context of the Ukraine war.
As for that other raging conflict in Eastern Europe, now four years in, Ukraine has come out in support of the US attacks on Iran. This is understandable, given the Iranians have long supplied Moscow with suicide drones which have wreaked havoc on Ukrainian cities.
China too has condemned the attack on Iran alongside Moscow, but using words much more restrained that Russia’s. “China calls for an immediate stop of the military actions, no further escalation of the tense situation, resumption of dialogue and negotiation, and efforts to uphold peace and stability in the Middle East,” its foreign ministry ministry said on X.
Most or all of the BRICS countries are expected to come out against the US-Israeli aggression. Europe is expected to by and large stay on the sidelines, fearing that any broader Mideast war would have spillover effects, such as another potential refugee crisis.
The UK, Germany and France have said nothing specifically on the ‘legality’ of the unprovoked US attack on Tehran, but have instead condemned the Iranian response.
They released a joint statement telling Iran to stop its attacks on US-Israeli assets and bases in the region. “We condemn Iranian attacks on countries in the region in the strongest terms,” French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said.
Iran is meanwhile alleging major war crimes:
BREAKING:
51 Iranian children killed, 60 students wounded after joint US-Israel strikes hit girls’ school in Iran. pic.twitter.com/p6134kaXvS
However, they did urge a return to diplomacy (maybe trying telling Washington that): “We call for a resumption of negotiations and urge the Iranian leadership to seek a negotiated solution. Ultimately, the Iranian people must be allowed to determine their future,” the statement added. “We reiterate our commitment to regional stability and to the protection of civilian life,” the statement ended with.
Economic growth metrics for the United States have recently shown surprising resilience; however, consumers’ economic sentiment has not.
According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis’s advance estimate, real Gross Domestic Product expanded at an annualized rate of just 1.4%, well below expectations and a steep drop from the 4.4% pace in the third quarter. However, the record-long federal government shutdown, which ran from October 1 through November 12, subtracted roughly 1 full percentage point from growth, as federal outlays plunged 16.6%.
Stripping out that self-inflicted drag, underlying growth was closer to 2.4%, a pace more consistent with a healthy expansion. Consumer expenditures rose 2.4%, moderating from the third quarter’s 3.5% but still solid, while business investment climbed a healthy 3.8%, powered by the ongoing AI-driven capital spending boom. With the government now reopened, the shutdown’s drag is expected to reverse in early 2026, providing a tailwind to first-quarter growth.
Notably, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) measures the total output of goods and services in the U.S. Of that total, personal consumption expenditures (PCE) comprise roughly 68%. In other words, so goes the consumer, so goes the economy.
When GDP climbs, it signals more economic activity (i.e., consumer demand), which then fuels broader expansion of production. Naturally, GDP growth rates are closely monitored by policymakers, investors, and corporate planners. There is much interpretation of GDP growth as evidence of potential for higher sales and profits going forward, but it does not tell the full story of individual households’ financial experiences.
Crucially, economic growth numbers focus only on aggregate performance and do not capture income distribution, regional variations, or the lived experiences of millions of households. A good example of this is the share of U.S. spending by income bracket. Currently, roughly 50% of all consumer spending is driven by the top 10% of income earners, and is increasing, while it is falling for the bottom 90%.
In other words, while we may see strong headline numbers, the numbers can mask pockets of stress in households and small businesses. Furthermore, growth driven by exports or government spending may fail to reach wide swaths of workers, further distorting the headline reading. A good example of that distortion was seen in 2025, when imports to get ahead of tariffs weighed heavily on the Q1 GDP reading, but then reversed sharply in Q2 as fears abated, leading to a sharp rebound. Those distortions had little impact on consumers as a whole.
However, while economic growth statistics paint a picture of a robust backdrop, other coincident indicators, such as the Conference Board Leading Economic Index (LEI), paint a different picture. For example, the LEI, which tends to lead the US economy by about six months, has remained in contraction for a very long period. Such is why the 6-month rate of change of the LEI has historically been one of the most accurate indicators of contractions and recessions. However, despite a contraction in the LEI, the economy never registered a recession.
Yes, based on headline economic growth data, the economy looks solid for now. However, if we dig deeper, we find mixed signals beneath the surface, which may explain the difference between economic headlines and economic sentiment.
The Disconnect Between Stock Market Gains And Current Sentiment
Historically, it is logical that stock markets and economic statistics should move together over the long run. As we discussed in “Return Expectations Are Too High,”
“The chart below shows the average annual inflation-adjusted total returns (dividends included) since 1948. I used total-return data from Aswath Damodaran at the NYU Stern School of Business. The chart shows that from 1948 to 2024, the market returned 9.26% after inflation. However, after the 2008 financial crisis, inflation-adjusted total returns jumped by nearly three percentage points for the last three observation periods.
Here is the issue. Total real (inflation-adjusted) stock market returns are easy to calculate. They are a function of economic growth (GDP) plus dividends less inflation. Such was the case from 1948 to 2000. However, since 2008, GDP growth has averaged roughly 5% with a dividend yield of 2%, yet returns have far surpassed what the economy can generate in earnings.”
That divergence over the last 15 years is unsurprising as we noted in “Pavlov Rings The Bell” in investing?
“Over the past 15 years, the markets were repeatedly bailed out of more serious corrections by either fiscal or monetary policy. That neutral stimulus (the interventions) was repeatedly paired with a reward-stimulus of markets going higher. As such, investors were “conditioned” to expect rescue whenever issues arise, to buy stocks on every decline, and to believe that this cycle will indefinitely continue. This was the point we made recently regarding “moral hazard.”
“The Federal Reserve’s well-intentioned interventions have created one of modern finance’s most powerful behavioral distortions: the conviction that there is always a safety net. After the Global Financial Crisis, zero interest rates and repeated rounds of quantitative easing conditioned investors to expect that policy support would always return during volatility. Over time, that conditioning hardened into a reflex: buy every dip, because the Fed will not allow markets to fail. What exactly is the definition of ‘moral hazard?’
Noun – ECONOMICS: The lack of incentive to guard against risk where one is protected from its consequences, e.g., by insurance.
Those constant sustained supports in both the economy and the financial markets were the foundation behind the break between economic realities and financial returns.
Currently, while GDP growth has surprised to the upside and some macro data show economic resilience, major equity indices such as the S&P 500 have also risen to new heights, driven by investor expectations for future earnings growth rather than the current consumer mood. The problem, as shown above, is that the markets are very detached from actual revenue growth.
Another problem with the headline data is that while stock market performance has exceeded historical expectations, its impact on the overall economy has become more muted. While equity values have surged, creating a “wealth effect” that supports consumption, that effect remains primarily confined to the top 10% of the population that owns 87% of the equity market. As noted above, the top 40% of income earners currently account for roughly 80% of total consumption.
That divergence helps explain the gap between weak consumer sentiment and strong economic data.
Consumer Sentiment Surveys Weak Despite Strong Data
In stark contrast with macro indicators and stock market performance, consumer sentiment surveys have shown marked weakness. Both the Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index and the University of Michigan Surveys have dropped sharply over the last two years, while the stock market has risen sharply. As shown, when markets are rising, consumer sentiment tends to rise with them, which makes sense. The chart below is a composite indicator of both primary consumer sentiment measures.
However, in both cases, the current situation assessments and future expectations remain very weak, with the expectations component falling below levels historically associated with recession signals.
The decline reflects growing pessimism about job prospects, business conditions, and future income, and consumers cited concerns about inflation, high prices, food and energy costs, affordability of health insurance, and geopolitical or political uncertainty. While the surveys captured widespread unease, GDP continued to expand.
Notably, the divergence between sentiment and economic data is not unique to this moment. Analysts have long noted that consumer mood often lags hard data, and we hope to see sentiment turn higher if the economy continues to expand. It is worth stating that in the short term, surveys often reflect fear and uncertainty, which may depress sentiment even if actual spending behavior remains relatively strong. However, while nominal data suggests that consumer spending remains resilient, that resilience has not been a function of “buying more” products, but simply buying the same amount, or less, at higher prices, which certainly explains the decline in sentiment readings.
Crucially, understanding that if consumer sentiment drives consumption, and consumption makes up 68% of the economy, that consumption is the demand for small and large businesses. Therefore, if economic growth is robust, we should see demand reflected in increased sentiment across the spectrum. However, as the combined composite shows, those sentiment readings remain weak. Note the correlation between sentiment and the future direction of economic activity.
These weak sentiment readings do not automatically translate to immediate economic contraction. But they indicate a cautious mood among households and business owners. That caution may lead to reduced spending on both sides of the GDP equation. Such a slowdown seems logical if economic sentiment remains subdued.
Why the Divergence Matters and What It Signals for the Future
The split between improving economic statistics, rising markets, and weak consumer sentiment has important implications. First, it suggests an economy operating on multiple tracks. Macro data points to expansion, supporting the rise in stock prices and earnings expectations. However, the drivers of that expansion and earnings feel insecure and pessimistic.
That divergence raises several questions.
Is growth sustainable if sentiment remains weak?
Will strong corporate profits continue if consumers pull back?
Could widespread pessimism eventually feed into economic behavior, causing slower spending and slower growth?
History offers cautionary examples of negative sentiment preceding downturns. Such is not because the data was wrong, but because mood eventually influenced real behavior.
Secondly, the divergence also highlights distributional issues. As noted above, aggregate growth does not capture income and wealth disparities. While high-income households account for 50% of spending, lower-income households are less likely to fully benefit from macroeconomic expansion. That reality contributes to weak sentiment. This leaves the markets exposed to events that cause high-income earners to cut spending. Such is particularly the case when there is no buffer between the “haves” and “have-nots.”
From an investment standpoint, this mixed picture calls for increased risk management. While the market is rising on higher earnings expectations, those expectations are subject to rapid shifts as economic realities emerge. As such, investors should assess risk precisely, considering both macro signals and consumer behavior.
Evaluate valuations carefully. Rising indices do not rule out overvaluation. Focus on companies with strong balance sheets, stable cash flow, and pricing power.
Diversify across sectors. Performance may vary. Defensive sectors like utilities, consumer staples, and healthcare often outperform during sentiment-driven slowdowns.
Monitor leading indicators. Pay attention to leading economic indexes, employment data, and consumer credit trends. Weak sentiment may foreshadow slower growth.
Keep liquidity. Maintain cash reserves to deploy when conditions change. Divergence creates volatility.
Consider hedges. Bonds or volatility-linked strategies may reduce risk if sentiment shifts markets.
Focus on quality. Quality companies with competitive advantages are more likely to weather shifts.
This divergence between data, markets, and sentiment is a critical economic signal. How this all works out, no one knows for sure. While there are currently plenty of valid reasons markets can only go higher and that investors should “buy the dip,” it seems prudent to consider the other side of those arguments.
Historically speaking, when “all experts agree,” it has paid dividends to stay disciplined and prepare for the possibility that “something else tends to happen.“
Iran Signals Ready To Deescalate After Defense Minister, IRGC Chief Killed In US-Israeli Strikes
Update (10:00ET): Will the chaos be contained, after Iran unleashed retaliatory missiles on at least five regional countries, including Israel? Iran is quickly signaling that it’s not willing to escalate this further, hoping for a halt in the US-Israeli operation:
Iran is attacking U.S. military facilities in the Middle East region and not “Americans in their land,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in his exclusive interview with NBC News.
He added that Tehran was interested in de-escalation and ready to talk once the joint U.S.-Israeli strikes end.
Amid rumors that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei could be dead, after direct strikes on his main headquarters in the capital, Araghchi said that he is still alive “as far as I know.”
Araghchi is directly signaling the American side via an exclusive interview with NBC News. He spoke live from Tehran Saturday morning. He acknowledged that “two commanders had died but senior officials in the regime had survived including the head of the judiciary and the parliament speaker.”
“All high ranking officials are alive,” he said. “So everybody is now in its position, and we are handling this situation, and everything is fine.”
Iranian Defense Minister Amir Nasirzadeh and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Mohammed Pakpour were killed in Israeli strikes, according to two sources briefed on Israel’s military operations and one regional source, cited in Reuters.
As for finding the Ayatollah, he is probably deep in a hidden underground bunker that no one but his closest IRGC advisers know about. Americans need to be reminded that this is a country of over 90 million people and geographically is the size of half the European continent.
Bloomberg writes on the prospect of full regime change, which would likely require US boots on the ground:
Conflicting reports are circulating about who in Iran was targeted and whether the attacks were successful. If senior Iranian officials were indeed killed, that would be significant. But it doesn’t mean the end of the Islamic Republic.
While the Supreme Leader is the ultimate decision-maker, he isn’t the only one, and succession planning has been underway for years. Similarly, the Revolutionary Guards are deeply embedded across political, economic, and security sectors. Targeting their leadership would weaken them, but it wouldn’t dismantle the organization altogether.
Gulf populations in panic mode, via Bloomberg:
In Dubai, some delivery services have been suspended as people flood supermarkets to buy water and other food essentials. Stockpiling prompted UAE authorities to issue a statement to reassure residents and the millions of expatriates that there is ample supply.
The UAE said its strategic reserve of essential commodities is “robust, comprehensive and diversified and asked people to refrain from stockpiling.
The UK has meanwhile confirmed that it has planes in the air supporting the US-Israeli operation.
* * *
Update (0845ET):
Iranian military officials said they would deliver a “historic lesson” to Israel and the U.S. in response to the strikes, as Operation Epic Fury, the U.S.-Israeli campaign designated by the Department of War, continues to hit military infrastructure, top army leaders, and other high-value targets across multiple Iranian cities.
Earlier footage allegedly showed the Iranian supreme leader’s compound being struck by what appeared to be U.S. or Israeli missiles or air-delivered munitions.
New Airbus satellite imagery reportedly shows the compound in Tehran sustained severe damage; it remains unclear whether Ayatollah Khamenei was inside at the time of the strike.
Shortly after Operation Epic Fury began, President Trump announced in an eight-minute video on Truth Social that “major combat operations” had begun.
“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,” the president said. “We are going to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground.”
Trump continued, “To the members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, the armed forces, and all of the police, I say tonight that you must lay down your weapons and have complete immunity or, in the alternative, face certain death.”
Operation Epic Fury comes amid the U.S. building a massive military presence in the region (read report). Also, one day after indirect nuclear talks (read here) between the U.S. and Iran did not end so well, according to Trump.
U.S. officials told NBC reporter Courtney Kube that Israel has targeted Iranian leaders, while the U.S. has targeted Iran’s ballistic missile and nuclear high-value facilities.
There are reports that IRGC Commander Mohammad Pakpour was killed by Israeli strikes.
According to assessments, Mohammad Pakpour, the Commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), has been eliminated by Israeli decapitation strikes on Tehran. pic.twitter.com/KpNyrNuWgh
Gen. Abolfazl Shekarchi, the spokesman for Iran’s Armed Forces, told state media that any military base used by the U.S. and Israel in the region will be targeted. There have already been reports of Iranian retaliatory strikes across the region.
Sources tell CNN that Operation Epic Fury was the result of “months of joint planning” and will involve several days of attacks.
* * *
The U.S. and Israel have conducted coordinated strikes on Iranian targets, which President Trump described in an eight-minute video on Truth Social as the start of “major combat operations” aimed at defending the U.S. by “eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime.”
“The hour for your freedom is at hand,” President Trump told the Iranian people in the video. “When we’re finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will be probably your only chance for generations.”
President Donald J. Trump on the United States military combat operations in Iran: pic.twitter.com/LimJmpLkgZ
President Trump is expected to address the American people on Saturday morning following the second U.S. strike on Iranian soil in less than a year. The first strike took place in June 2025, when U.S. stealth bombers dropped bombs on three nuclear sites inside Iran.
The focus on the Saturday morning strikes (Brent crude futures are closed), the president said, was to ensure Americans “will never be threatened by a nuclear-armed Iran.”
Bloomberg headline: Oil Tankers Avoiding Vital Hormuz Strait After US Bombs Iran
Oil Tankers Avoiding Vital Hormuz Strait After US Bombs Iran: BBG
In markets, with Brent crude futures closed, Bitcoin was hammered from the $65k level, down to the $63k level.
US and Israeli strikes on Iran come one day after the latest round of indirect nuclear talks between Iran and the US, about which the president said he was “not happy with the progress,” adding: “They don’t want to say the key words: ‘We’re not going to have a nuclear weapon.'”
A US official told CNN that the US strikes were focused on Iranian military targets but did not comment on the ongoing operation. Another official told the outlet that the objective of the strikes was to address the Iranian military threat. The first official said the US military had put countermeasures in place to protect its personnel in the region.
AP News reports:
The first strikes of the attack appeared to target the compound home to Iran’s 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in downtown Tehran. It wasn’t immediately clear if he was there at the time. Smoke could be seen rising from the Iranian capital.
Shortly after the strike, the US Department of Defense wrote on X, “Operation Epic Fury.” For context, last year’s strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities was “Operation Midnight Hammer.”
Iranian state-run media outlets Fars and IRNA reported strikes in Isfahan, Qom, Lorestan, Karaj, Kermanshah, and Tabriz, as well as in the capital, Tehran.
Israel described the strikes against Iran as “a broad, coordinated, and joint operation against the regime” that was planned for months.
Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a recorded message that Israeli military action against Iran would be “much more powerful” than Israel’s 12-day operation against Tehran last year.
In response, Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard launched a wave of drones and missiles targeting Israel. There were other reports that the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet command center in the host nation, Bahrain, was targeted by Iranian missiles.
Other reports suggest Iran launched projectiles at US bases and targets beyond Bahrain, and also in Kuwait and Qatar.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry wrote on X, “The time has come to defend the homeland and confront the enemy’s military assault. Just as we were prepared for negotiations, we have been even more prepared for defense at all times. The armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will decisively respond to the aggressors with full authority.”
Iran Retaliates On US Bases In Five Countries Simultaneously As Tehran Bombed
Iran launched retaliatory strikes targeting Israel and US assets across the Middle East, hitting sites in Qatar, the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Syria, Jordan, and Iraq – soon after the Trump-ordered ‘Operation Epic Fury’ started, which appears aimed at accomplishing regime change in Iran.
Multiple explosions rocked Tehran, with additional blasts reported in several other locations nationwide, soon after which several countries across the region closed their airspace once it was bombs away, and as the cross-border attacks intensified.
Israel is expected to get hit hard in the Iranian retaliation, which has been underway for hours at this point. Al Jazeera is citing West Bank residents who’ve observed loud explosions overhead of Israel’s defense system intercepting Iranian missiles.
“So far, there have been no reports of injuries in Israel, even though on social media we have seen reports of direct impacts,” Al Jazeera writes. Sirens are sounding in Tel Aviv and across central Israel amid Iran’s retaliatory ballistic missile attack, with the IDF saying its is working to shoot them down. Not much in the way of confirmed images or video have come out of Israel at this point.
Israel has announced it along with the US have targeted Supreme Leader Khamenei and Iranian President Pezeshkian, who are probably at this moment deep in hidden underground bunkers – assuming they survived the major strike on headquarters buildings in Tehran. Israeli officials have said specifically, “We attacked the President of Iran and the Supreme Leader.”
This means Tehran is not going to be ‘restrained’ – as it is in a fight for survival, and will pull out anything it has, particularly the miles of underground ‘missile cities’ it has.
Explosions in Abu Dhabi.
Qatar Airways stops ALL flights into Doha after US & Israel strike Iran, and Iran retaliates against GCC bases.
In Dubai, an evacuation of people from the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa, has begun. pic.twitter.com/C1FDYLB6iT
Like with the June war, Iran was engaged in nuclear negotiations at the very moment it suffered major unprovoked attack. It warned that it will hit US and Israeli bases and assets across the region, even if they are hosted in regional or Gulf countries, and that is exactly what is now happening.
Some regional analysts are predicting ‘catastrophic’ consequences on par with the ripple effect of Bush’s 2003 Iraq invasion:
Negar Mortazavi, senior fellow at the Center for International Policy, says Trump is betraying his campaign promises by launching another regime change war in the region.
Mortazavi stressed that conflict could have been averted, saying that negotiations between Washington and Tehran were making progress before the US-Israeli attack.
“This is going to be catastrophic for the United States, for Iranians and for people across the region”, she told Al Jazeera. “As we’ve already seen on day one, the war is spilling over and is harming others.”
Watch: Iranian Shahed appears to hit US naval base in Bahrain…
One source has compiled a quick initial outline of what the opening salvo looked like:
Bahrain:
Confirmed hit on the US Navy Fifth Fleet headquarters. Bahrain’s own state news agency reported the strike. No casualty figures released yet. This is the command center for every American naval operation in the Persian Gulf. It was struck.
UAE:
Multiple missiles intercepted by Emirati air defenses. One civilian killed in Abu Dhabi from falling debris. The UAE defense ministry confirmed the intercepts. The Emirates just absorbed an act of war on its sovereign territory from a country it shares a maritime border with.
Qatar:
Missile intercepted. Zero damage. The Qatari Interior Ministry confirmed. The same country Iran just attacked is the country that hosted Al Udeid for twenty years as a gesture of regional balance. That balance ended this morning.
Kuwait:
KUNA state news agency confirmed missiles were “dealt with” in Kuwaiti airspace. No reported damage. Kuwait, which stayed neutral through every Gulf crisis since 1991, just had Iranian ballistic missiles flying over its cities.
Jordan:
Two Iranian ballistic missiles shot down by Jordanian military. Confirmed by the Jordanian armed forces directly. Jordan intercepted Iranian missiles in June 2025 as well. That was in defense of Israel. This time Iran targeted Jordan itself.
Saudi Arabia:
Fars News claims strikes. No confirmation from any Saudi source. No Tier 1 or Tier 2 verification. Either it did not happen or Riyadh is not yet ready to say it did. Both possibilities carry enormous implications.
* * *
Prior to the overnight US attack, Saudi Arabia appeared ready to sit on the sidelines and did not want the US to use its airspace, but now with things already in motion it has changed its tune. A longtime enemy and rival to Shia Iran, the kingdom, which is heart of the Sunni establishment, recently made a China-brokered detente with Tehran. But that’s all off at this dire point.
🚨IT’S ALL OUT WAR, #Iran has FINALLY taken off the gloves. This is the existential war.
Probably Riyadh is calculating that it has no choice but to join the ‘winning’ side, or else face the wrath of Trump. A fresh official Saudi statement says it condemns the “blatant Iranian aggression and a flagrant violation of the sovereignty” of the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and Jordan. However, no condemnation of the unprovoked attack on Tehran by the US and Israel, of course.
“The kingdom affirms its full solidarity with and unwavering support for the brotherly countries, and its readiness to place all its capabilities at their disposal in support of any measures they may undertake,” it added.
