US military suffered 200 casualties in retaliatory strikes – Tehran

Iranian forces have retaliated against American-Israeli attacks by targeting Washington’s military bases across the region

The US has suffered 200 casualties in Iranian retaliatory strikes on bases across the Middle East, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has claimed.

Backed by the US, Israel launched what was described as a preemptive operation against Iranian military and nuclear-related targets in the early hours of Saturday, claiming the strikes were aimed at neutralizing threats posed by the Islamic Republic in the region.

US President Donald Trump later confirmed that the White House had supported West Jerusalem in conducting the strikes, citing the failure of nuclear diplomacy as a direct trigger for the move.

“As a result of missile strikes on American bases, at least 200 US military personnel were killed and injured,” the Tasnim news agency reported Saturday, citing a statement by the IRGC.

Commenting on the retaliation, IRGC General Ebrahim Jabbari warned Trump that the Islamic Republic has “advanced capabilities” and is ready for a prolonged conflict.

“At the start of the war we will strike everything we have in our stockpiles,” Jabbari said, vowing to launch “the most powerful missiles later.”

https://www.rt.com/news/633217-iran-strikes-hundreds-american-soldiers/

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.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/trump-announces-major-combat-operations-iran

Israeli strike kills 70 school children in Iranian city – media

West Jerusalem has launched a wave of strikes against targets in Iranian cities in cooperation with the US

Seventy students have been killed in an Israeli airstrike on a girls’ primary school in the city of Minab, in the south of Iran, the country’s news agency Fars reported Saturday. It comes amid ongoing air strikes on the Islamic Republic by Israel and the US.

Earlier in the day, Israel launched what it described as a pre-emptive operation against Iranian military and nuclear-related targets, saying the strikes were aimed at neutralizing threats posed by Iran. US President Donald Trump later said Washington was joining the operation, citing the failure of nuclear diplomacy as a direct trigger for renewed bombing.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry has denounced the attacks as “criminal military aggression” and said they are taking place “in the midst of a diplomatic process.” The ministry declared that “now is the time to defend the homeland and confront the military aggression of the enemy” and called on UN member states to condemn what it described as an act of aggression and a violation of the UN Charter.

Iran has launched missile and drone attacks in retaliation for the Israeli-US strikes, with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps saying the first wave targeted Israeli territory. Officials in Tehran vowed a “decisive” and potentially prolonged response, further raising fears of a broader Middle East escalation.

Media reports emerged that Iran had targeted several US military facilities across the Middle East, including the 5th Fleet support center in Bahrain, a base in Iraqi Kurdistan, Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait, Al Dhafra Air Base in the UAE, Muwaffaq Al Salti Air Base in Jordan, and Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. Israeli media also reported that roughly 35 missiles were launched toward Israel, with one person reportedly injured.

https://www.rt.com/news/633191-iran-school-forty-killed-israel/

Election interference

Facebook blocks pro-government Hungarian news weeks ahead of elections

The tech giant could be “punishing” the outlets over warnings about escalation, according to a local media association

Facebook has blocked the social media pages of three Hungarian media outlets, citing violations of community principles.

The move comes mere weeks before elections in the Central European nation and has been condemned by the Hungarian National Media Association, which called it an attack on press freedom.

The pages of Bama.hu, Szabolcs Online and Kisalföld.hu were made inaccessible as of Friday, prompting the media outlets to criticize what they called an unjustified decision in a joint statement. They also vowed to appeal the ban.

The affected media outlets – all part of the Mediaworks Hungary conglomerate – have been described by other local media as presenting the view of the government and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s Fidesz Party.

The development came ahead of the parliamentary elections scheduled for early April, where Fidesz faces tough competition from the pro-EU opposition Tisza Party.

The Hungarian National Media Association blasted the ban, insisting that the pretext for the move was flimsy. Non-compliance with the “community principles of Meta,” Facebook’s parent company, could “mean anything,” it said in a statement expressing solidarity with the affected outlets.

It also said that the tech giant could just be “punishing right-wing news portals for publishing news about the threat of war.” Budapest has been one of the staunchest opponents of the EU policy on Ukraine and Russia. Hungary has argued in particular that the bloc’s increased engagement in the conflict between Moscow and Kiev risks dangerous escalation.

Later on Friday, Meta told a Hungarian Telex media outlet that the pages were “erroneously restricted and had been restored.” However, two out of three of the affected accounts remain inaccessible as of Saturday evening.

https://www.rt.com/news/633226-facebook-block-hungarian-media/

Watch: Gulf High-Rises, Tourist Spots Get Pummeled By Iranian Ballistic Missiles

Update(1245ET): Some absolutely crazy footage has been emerging Saturday amid Iran's retaliation, following the overnight into early hours US-Israeli strikes on the Islamic Republic.

Among the most shocking: the Palm Jumeirah area has been hit, possibly directly or else by falling missile debris, which is the iconic man-made island in Dubai. Fairmont The Palm hotel on fire, and confirmation: "Dubai authorities confirm that an incident occurred in a building in the Palm Jumeirah area. Emergency response teams were deployed immediately, and the site has been secured. Dubai Civil Defence has confirmed that the resulting fire is now under control," said the Dubai Media Office.

https://twitter.com/i/status/2027781107396088149

Saudi Arabia SLAMS “Brutal Iranian Aggression” Against Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Jordan, and Kuwait — Gulf States Vow FULL RIGHT to Retaliate After Tehran’s Attack

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia condemns and denounces in the strongest terms the treacherous Iranian aggression and the blatant violation of the sovereignty of each of the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Bahrain, the State of Qatar, the State of Kuwait, and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, affirming its full solidarity and standing by the side of the sister states, and placing all its capabilities at their disposal to support them in all measures they take, and warning of the grave consequences of the continued violation of the sovereignty of states and the principles of international law.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/02/saudi-arabia-slams-brutal-iranian-aggression-against-bahrain/

Iranian missile struck close to Burj Khalifa in UAE 🇦🇪.

https://twitter.com/i/status/2027784734001270998

Ballistic Missiles launches, western Iran.

https://twitter.com/i/status/2027787746408845699

Another Iranian drone hits the US base in Bahrain, with Bahrainis seemingly celebrating the strike, chanting "Ya Ali!"

This is significant because it foreshadows what will likely happen if the war takes on a religious dimension, such as if Ayatollah Khemeni is assassinated.

https://twitter.com/i/status/2027796232383414361

Airstrikes reported in Zanjan, Iran. Iran is getting blasted right now

https://twitter.com/i/status/2027800549551132925

IN FULL: Trump’s Stunning 3AM Regime Change Speech to Iran, in Text AND Video.

https://twitter.com/i/status/2027651077865157033

Israel Strikes ‘Hundreds of Targets’ Inside Iran, Netanyahu Calls on Iranians to Topple Regime

In an address to the nation on Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked U.S. President Trump for his “historic leadership” and indicated that the goal was to topple the regime in Tehran.

“For 47 years, the Ayatollah regime has called out ‘Death to Israel’ and ‘Death to America.’ It has shed our blood, murdered many Americans, and massacred its own people,” Netanyahu said.

“This murderous terror regime must not be allowed to arm itself with nuclear weapons that would enable it to threaten all of humanity,” he continued, adding: “Our joint action will create the conditions for the brave Iranian people to take their destiny into their own hands.”

“The time has come for all parts of the Iranian people — the Persians, the Kurds, the Azeris, the Baloch, and the Ahwazi — to cast off the yoke of tyranny and bring about a free and peace-seeking Iran,” he declared.

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2026/02/28/israel-strikes-hundreds-of-targets-inside-iran-netanyahu-calls-on-iranians-to-topple-regime/

China Denounces U.S. as ‘War Addict’ for Strikes on Iran

CHINA:

"The US is a war addict. Throughout its over 240-year history, it has been at war for all but 16 years.

The US has 800 overseas military bases in over 80 countries and regions.

The US is the main cause of international disorder, global turbulence, and regional instability."

https://twitter.com/i/status/2027699741128020231

Timing of US-Israel attack on Iran bears symbolic meaning in Judaism as Netanyahu references holiday of Purim

The timing of the US and Israeli attack on Iran bears symbolic meaning in Judaism, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referenced the upcoming holiday of Purim in his first statement.

“Twenty five hundred years ago, in ancient Persia, a tyrant rose against us with the very same goal, to utterly destroy our people,” Netanyahu said of the story, which takes place in what is now Iran. “Today as well, on Purim, the lot has fallen, and in the end this evil regime will fall too.”

Netanyahu frequently references religious events or symbols in his statements.

Ahead of the upcoming Jewish holiday , worshippers read a specific portion from the Old Testament, known as Zachor.

The passage from the book of Deuteronomy commands the ancient Israelites to remember an unprovoked attack by the nation of Amalek, located in modern-day Sinai and southern Israel, and to eradicate the memory of Amalek once the Israelites are settled in their land.

The passage is read publicly before Purim to fulfil what Jews consider the mitzvah – or commandment – of remembering Amalek as Israel’s achetypical enemy. Amalek is often referenced as an historical enemy of the Jewish people, and Netanyahu invoked it shortly after the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

https://edition.cnn.com/world/live-news/israel-iran-attack-02-28-26-hnk-intl

The Anonymous Internet Is Quietly Dying As The FTC Opens The Door And States Push Their Own Age-Verification Laws

The Federal Trade Commission issued a policy statement today announcing that the Commission will not bring an enforcement action under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA Rule) against certain website and online service operators that collect, use, and disclose personal information for the sole purpose of determining a user’s age via age verification technologies.

The COPPA Rule requires operators of commercial websites or online services directed to children under 13, and operators with actual knowledge they are collecting personal information from a child, to provide notice of their information practices to parents and to obtain verifiable parental consent before collecting, using, or disclosing personal information collected from a child under 13.

Age verification technologies play a critical role in helping parents as they monitor their children’s online activities. Since COPPA was enacted in 1998, there’s been an explosion in the use of internet-connected technologies by children. To help parents navigate the challenges associated with their children’s online activities, some states have started requiring some websites and online services to use age verification mechanisms to help determine the age of users. But as noted at the FTC’s recent workshop on age verification technologies, some age verification technologies may require the collection of personal information from children, prompting questions about whether such activities could violate the COPPA Rule.

“Age verification technologies are some of the most child-protective technologies to emerge in decades,” said Christopher Mufarrige, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Our statement incentivizes operators to use these innovative tools, empowering parents to protect their children online.”

The policy statement states that the Commission will not bring an enforcement action under the COPPA Rule against operators of general audience sites and services and mixed audience sites and services that collect, use, or disclose personal information for the sole purpose of determining a user’s age without first obtaining verifiable parental consent—if they comply with certain conditions, specifically that they:

do not use or disclose information collected for age verification purposes for any purpose except to determine a user’s age;

do not retain this information longer than necessary to fulfill the age verification purposes, and delete such information promptly thereafter;

disclose information collected for age verification purposes only to those third parties the operator has taken reasonable steps to determine are capable of maintaining the confidentiality, security, and integrity of the information, including by obtaining certain written assurances from those third parties;

provide clear notice to parents and children of the information collected for age verification purposes;

employ reasonable security safeguards for information collected for age verification purposes; and

take reasonable steps to determine that any product, service, method, or third party utilized for age verification purposes is likely to provide reasonably accurate results as to the user’s age.

https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2026/02/ftc-issues-coppa-policy-statement-incentivize-use-age-verification-technologies-protect-children

JUST IN🇮🇷❌🇺🇸🇴🇲🇦🇪🇧🇭🔥 Iranian missiles just bombed all across US bases in UAE, QATAR, Bahrain, Oman and Iraq.

https://twitter.com/i/status/2027674383733690397

I Audited $2.1 Billion in Epstein Financial Records. Here's Every Name the Money Touched.

The Season 1 finale. 10,964 transactions across 14 banks, 8 shell entities, and 123 connected nodes.

$2.146B

Total Corpus

10,964

Transactions

14

Banks

8

Shell Entities

313

Financial Links

Thousands of pages of wire transfer records, bank statements, CHIPS and SWIFT logs, canceled checks, and SAR narratives — all released by the Department of Justice and various court proceedings. The raw material for a forensic audit was sitting on government servers. So I built one.

Over the course of this project, I processed 10 distinct payment types across 14 financial institutions. The publication ledger holds 10,964 unique transactions totaling $2.146 billion (Unverified). That figure breaks down into four tiers: $1.61 billion in wire transfers, CHIPS, and SWIFT transactions; $343 million in bank statement entries; $7.6 million in checks and cash instruments; and $185 million in contextual document references.

The first three tiers alone total $1.96 billion. That's 104.4% of the aggregate values reported in the banks' own SARs. The data doesn't just corroborate the suspicious activity reports. It slightly exceeds them.

The Banks

Five banks carried the bulk of the volume. Deutsche Bank handled $851.9 million (Unverified). JPMorgan Chase processed $670.8 million. Bank of America moved $486.4 million. Citibank handled $206.6 million. BNY Mellon rounded out the top five at $86.7 million.

These aren't controversial claims. The banks themselves filed the SARs. Deutsche Bank paid a $150 million fine to New York regulators for compliance failures tied to these accounts. JPMorgan settled for $290 million in a class action and another $75 million with the U.S. Virgin Islands. The question was never whether the money moved. The question is where it went.

What the payment records show is that bank money didn't go directly to Epstein in most cases. It routed through a layer of shell entities first. Deutsche Bank alone pushed $93.8 million into Haze Trust across 72 wire transfers, $82.7 million into Southern Financial LLC across 103 wires, and $58.4 million into Southern Trust Company across 44 wires. JPMorgan sent $42.8 million into Southern Financial across 94 transactions.

The banks were the on-ramp. The shells were the highway.

More

https://randallscott25-star.github.io/epstein-forensic-finance/narratives/19_grand_opus_narrative.html

Houthis just announced total closure of the Red Sea.

No ships. No passage. No exceptions.

Iran strikes Israel. Houthis lock the gate.

The global supply chain just hit a wall. And the world is about to feel what war really costs.

https://x.com/Its_ereko/status/2027670088472571936

An Israeli submarine can be seen leaving Haifa Naval Base in northern Israel.

https://x.com/AMK_Mapping_/status/2027670306782101597