{"id":8694,"date":"2026-02-28T02:49:39","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T08:49:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/coatesn\/?p=8694"},"modified":"2026-03-05T14:44:50","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T20:44:50","slug":"8694","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/coatesn\/2026\/02\/28\/8694\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

The story is so surprising to some (that Israel would join in from the first), and the media need to move quickly to understand what is happening, that even I24 gets the headline wrong.\u00a0 \u201cIsrael, U.S. launch preemptive military operation against Israel, emergency situation declared in Israel | LIVE BLOG,\u201d<\/a> I24, 2-28-26.<\/p>\n

\u201cUS, Israel attack Iran live: Trump announces \u2018major combat operations\u2019,\u201d<\/a> Al Jazeera, 2-28-26.<\/p>\n

\u201cUS UN Ambassador Tells Off Iran To His Face at Tense UN Meeting,\u201d<\/a> New York Post, 2-28-26.\u00a0\u00a0Statement (video in the UNSC) by the U.S. at the United Nations of its rationale based on the actions of Iran, including the global security declaration as long as 20 years ago that Iran give up its enrichment activities.\u00a0 Here in the past three weeks, Iran continues to refuse to give up its program.\u00a0 The Ayatollah has lost his chance.<\/p>\n

A word about the NYT and those who don\u2019t understand the Regime.\u00a0 See \u201cWhy Have You Started This War, Mr. President?,\u201d<\/a> NYT, 2-28-26.\u00a0\u00a0The premise is flawed.\u00a0 The U.S. didn\u2019t start this war, it is decades and years and issues and threats and deaths long.\u00a0 Iran started it with the founding mantra \u201cDeath to America.\u201d\u00a0 It is how the country is founded and run.\u00a0 There is also Death to Israel and Death to Saudi Arabia.\u00a0 They are Little Satans.\u00a0 This is not what a normal country does and is why Henry Kissinger’s statement about the ISI started this blog.\u00a0 All American presidents since Jimmy Carter have had to deal with this Shia Crescent Mahdi Death Cult.\u00a0 All regional presidents and monarchs and countries of the Middle East but really around the world because of the long arm of Iran and its Quds Force and IRGC have had to deal with the two Supreme Leaders and their twisted view of Islam.\u00a0 There have been proxies, the long war with Iraq, hostages, missile strikes, the largest state-sponsor of terror, the nuclear weapons program, the list of negatives is so long.\u00a0 And the list of brutality and human rights denials and corruption against common Iranians are too numerous to count.\u00a0 Well, more than 30,000 is the latest number to count, those killed in the Jan. 8-9 military-grade weapons murders of their countrymen and women.\u00a0 Why doesn\u2019t the NYT ask which countries or international organizations are holding Iran to account for that most recent event, which is the largest government mass killing at one time of a country\u2019s people?<\/p>\n

Israel will forever have the credit for removing this Haman.\u00a0 \u201cIsrael kills Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei in Saturday strikes | LIVE BLOG,\u201d<\/a> I24, 2-28-26.\u00a0\u00a0Khamenei will never order another person dead.\u00a0 Or an entire nation.\u00a0 I wonder if Quds Day is no officially over?\u00a0 I wonder if the Doomsday clock in Tehran will ever be reconstituted?\u00a0 I wonder if the new head of government in Iran will make predictions of how long will Israel will exist?<\/p>\n

\u201cIsrael, US timed Iran strikes to Khamenei meeting with inner circle \u2013 report,\u201d<\/a> I24, 2-28-26.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cIsraeli officials said Khamenei was killed along with key lieutenants, including Ali Shamkhani, the powerful former secretary of Iran\u2019s National Security Council, and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Mohammad Pakpour. Two Iranian sources told Reuters that Khamenei met on Saturday with Shamkhani and Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani at a secure location shortly before the strikes began. A senior Israeli official told Reuters that Khamenei\u2019s body had been found.\u201d\u00a0 [was Larijani killed?]\u00a0 Two US sources and a US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said confirmation that Khamenei was meeting his top aides triggered the joint Israeli-US operation. The US official said the attack needed to hit Khamenei first to maintain the element of surprise, suggesting concerns that the Iranian leader would go into hiding if he had advance warning. One US source said Khamenei had originally been expected to hold the meeting on Saturday evening in Tehran, but Israeli intelligence detected a meeting on Saturday morning, and the strikes were moved forward.\u00a0 The precise location of the meeting was not immediately clear, the sources said. However, Khamenei\u2019s high\u2011security compound in Tehran was struck at the beginning of the operation, and satellite imagery reviewed by Reuters confirmed that the site was destroyed. \u2026 After Khamenei\u2019s death, Head of Iran\u2019s National Security Council said a temporary Leadership Council will be formed today. According to a report by Iran International, Iran’s president, judiciary chief, Guardian Council jurist will assume the supreme leader’s duties.\u00a0 The impact of Khamenei\u2019s death on Iran\u2019s internal power structure and regional policy remains uncertain. In a pre\u2011attack assessment, the US Central Intelligence Agency concluded that he could be replaced by hardliners from within the IRGC [this is what I think, that Iran becomes a military dictatorship or junta for the moment], according to two sources briefed on the intelligence. Officials and analysts warn that the killing of Iran\u2019s supreme leader, combined with ongoing military exchanges, could further destabilize the region and complicate efforts to contain wider escalation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLive Updates: U.S. and Israel Strike Iran as Trump Calls for Overthrow of Government,\u201d<\/a> NYT, 2-28-26.\u00a0 First, the Supreme Leader is now a marked man the rest of his life, much more so than by his own persons.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know if he will ever go outside again.\u00a0 Another comment–Classless by the NYT.\u00a0 It complains that \u201cThis is the second time President Trump has attacked Iran during ongoing negotiations on its nuclear program.\u00a0 Already, Iranian officials were doubtful they could trust Trump to negotiate seriously or if he intended to reach a lasting agreement. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran\u2019s supreme leader, has an abiding mistrust of the United States, which was reinforced in 2018 when Trump pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal and reimposed harsh economic sanctions on Iran.\u201d\u00a0 This is distorting history and reality.\u00a0 We have been negotiating for years.\u00a0 And the NYT ignores the many reports in the last few days that Iran was not negotiating in good faith, was not offering much, and certainly wasn\u2019t giving up its nuclear program.\u00a0 Why should anyone continue so-called negotiating or diplomacy that is not going anywhere?\u00a0 Here’s another point–\u201cIn a letter to the U.N. Security Council, Iran\u2019s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, asked for the council to intervene and said Israel and the United States had violated international law in attacking Iran. \u201cThe United States and the Israeli regime shall bear full and direct responsibility for all ensuing consequences, including any escalation arising from their unlawful actions,\u201d Mr. Araghchi said in the letter. \u201cAll bases, facilities and assets of the hostile forces in the region shall be regarded as legitimate military objectives within the framework of Iran\u2019s lawful exercise of self-defense.\u201d\u00a0 Good luck on whether the world defends this interpretation of IL.\u00a0 As an example of my point, \u201cUrsula von der Leyen, the president of the European Union\u2019s executive arm, announced on social media that she would convene a special security update meeting on Monday on the situation in Iran. She said that it is \u201cof the utmost importance that there is no further escalation through Iran\u2019s unjustified attacks on partners in the region.\u201d\u00a0 And \u201cSaudi Arabia\u2019s foreign ministry said that there had been \u201cblatant and cowardly Iranian attacks\u201d on its capital Riyadh and in the country\u2019s oil-rich eastern province. The statement said the attacks came even after Saudi Arabia had said it would not allow its airspace or territory to be used to target Iran.\u201d\u00a0 Also, the NYT is reporting that \u201cAbbas Araghchi, the Iranian foreign minister, said there were currently no backchannel negotiations taking place in an effort to end the war with the United States and Israel. \u201cIf the Americans want to talk to us, they know how they can contact me,\u201d Araghchi said in an interview on NBC News.\u201d\u00a0 Note that Araghchi didn\u2019t say he was trying to contact the U.S. or Israel.\u00a0 The next comment I have is what is important now is will the Iranian people step up, and will the Army and Basij step down.\u00a0 It will be interesting to learn more about the contacts between Western intelligence and freedom advocates.\u00a0 Here\u2019s another point\u2014only Iran brings its rivals together so well.\u00a0 \u201cSheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, the president of the United Arab Emirates, spoke with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia by phone on Saturday, according to U.A.E. state media, after the Emirates came under retaliatory Iranian strikes. Prince Mohammed told the Emirati leader that Saudi Arabia would be \u201cplacing all its capabilities at its disposal,\u201d to support the Emirates. Relations between the two Gulf neighbors have been strained in recent months.\u00a0 Finally, \u201cIran\u2019s semiofficial news agency Fars reported that Iranian missile attacks had targeted U.S. military facilities including the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait, Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates and the U.S. Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain.\u201d\u00a0 Apparently, though, little damage as the missiles are being shot out of the sky.<\/p>\n

Where is Esmail Qaani, leader of the Quds Force? \u00a0I guess he survived June 25, and now March 26. \u00a0But why no public appearances if he is alive?\u00a0 Not even a mention of him in the Regime news sources.\u00a0 \u201cDiagramming the Blows to Iran\u2019s Leadership,\u201d<\/a> NYT, 2-28-26.<\/p>\n

This is from the man who hardly ever criticizes the largest state-sponsor of terror.\u00a0 \u201cUN chief condemns U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran during emergency Security Council meeting,\u201d<\/a> PBS, 2-28-26.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The story is so surprising to some (that Israel would join in from the first), and the media need to move quickly to understand what is happening, that even I24 gets the headline wrong.\u00a0 \u201cIsrael, U.S. launch preemptive military operation against Israel, emergency situation declared in Israel | LIVE BLOG,\u201d I24, 2-28-26. \u201cUS, Israel attack … <\/p>\n

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