Israel and Benjamin Netanyahu likely wanted to put an end to the Iranian regime last summer. Donald Trump took out their nuclear-weapons development sites and offered the regime a chance to change directions. Now both the US and Israel have aligned together on the goal of getting the mullahs out of power in Iran, and this time Netanyahu wants to ensure an outcome that ends the 47-year existential threat from Tehran.
To get that message across and to accomplish that mission, Netanyahu promised to intensify attacks on the regime and the capital. In a brief statement following a security cabinet meeting a couple of hours ago, Netanyahu promised to hold nothing back to achieve the end of the mullahcracy:
סיימתי עכשיו פגישה עם שר הביטחון, הרמטכ"ל וראש המוסד. נתתי הנחיות להמשך המערכה.
— Benjamin Netanyahu - בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) March 1, 2026
אתמול חיסלנו את הרודן חמינאי. יחד איתו חיסלנו עשרות מבכירי משטר הדיכוי.
כוחותינו הולמים עכשיו בלב טהרן בעוצמות הולכות וגוברות, וזה רק ילך ויתגבר עוד יותר במהלך הימים הקרובים.
עם זאת, אלה ימים… pic.twitter.com/cap0Atxlhl
Via X's translation service:
I just concluded a meeting with the Minister of Defense, the Chief of the General Staff, and the head of the Mossad. I issued directives for the continuation of the campaign.
Yesterday, we eliminated the tyrant Khamenei. Along with him, we eliminated dozens of the regime's top oppressive figures. Our forces are now striking at the heart of Tehran with intensifying force, and this will only grow even stronger in the coming days.
That said, these are painful days. Yesterday here in Tel Aviv, and now in Beit Shemesh, we lost dear people. My heart goes out to the families, and on behalf of all of you, citizens of Israel, I send wishes for recovery to the wounded.
We are in a campaign in which we are bringing the full might of the IDF, as never before, to this battle to ensure our existence and our future.But we are also bringing to this campaign the support of the United States, my friend, the President of the United States, Donald Trump, and the U.S. military.
This combination of forces enables us to do what I have longed to do for 40 years—to strike the terrorist regime hip and thigh. That is what I promised—and that is what we will do.
The "intensifying force" part has already been noticed. I included this video in my earlier post, depicting massive strikes in Tehran this morning:
Smoke over Tehran after wave of Israeli Air Force strikes. pic.twitter.com/d8rVJQSBAF
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) March 1, 2026
There has been more footage of strikes in Tehran from yesterday and today demonstrating the scale of the IDF and US offensive against the regime:
The Israeli Air Force released footage of strikes on the IRGC headquarters in Tehran. Millions are sharing it. Almost nobody understands what they are actually watching.
— Shanaka Anslem Perera ⚡ (@shanaka86) March 1, 2026
You are watching the largest Israeli air sortie in history. Two hundred fighter jets launched simultaneously… https://t.co/USfa1VaI2B pic.twitter.com/vkGaOmw1iC
Iran Observer
— Forbidden News (@NewsForbiddenX) March 1, 2026
🚨🚨🚨 TEHRAN IS FACING SOME HEAVY AIR STRIKES AT THE MOMENT
ALSO OTHER PARTS OF THE COUNTRY pic.twitter.com/8tC4iTG5Vr
Here is one more such air strike video on Tehran with massive ball of fire and smoke and people cheering these strikes and recording it pic.twitter.com/vTVPzML4y0
— Woke Eminent (@WokePandemic) March 1, 2026
Massive strikes on IRGC installations in Tehran.
— OSGINT (@posted_news) March 1, 2026
Attacks reported on the Basij forces headquarters in Azadi Street in central Tehranpic.twitter.com/K7aZeqsSpLpic.twitter.com/sN9Ran2xKHpic.twitter.com/PsLUAUihMe
The "intensification" phase has clearly begun. Fox News reports that Israel and the US have achieved air supremacy in both day and night, allowing for sorties with impunity. We have combined for 2100 attack sorties over Iran in the past 24 hours and can now hit pretty much anything we want:
[Israel] and U.S. military have effectively suppressed air defense systems or IADS over Tehran. U.S. military carried out 900 strikes in 12 hours. That might be a record. Israelis carried out 1,200 strikes in the past 24 hours, more than during the entire 12-day war last summer.” pic.twitter.com/Gm8Bdt29Gh
— Nikhil Kumar Mittal (@NikhilKrMittal) March 1, 2026
Note well that the Iranians on the ground in these videos are not at all displeased by the turn of events in the last thirty hours or so. Many such videos show Iranians celebrating as US and Israeli strikes hit their targets and destroy a little more of the oppressive regime. Even the US media has been forced to take notice of Iranian celebrations, both inside and outside Iran:
CBS: "They (The Iranian People) are saying 'thank you' and 'a new day is dawning.'
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) March 1, 2026
The Iranian people told me over and over again, we want this." pic.twitter.com/R4tUbwQrLa
Even the New York Times noticed it this morning:
Large crowds of Iranians poured into the streets of Tehran and other cities across Iran overnight, celebrating the news that Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had been killed during a day of coordinated U.S. and Israeli attacks.
The ayatollah’s death, after nearly 40 years of authoritarian rule, represented a historic shift for Iran’s theocratic regime. Many Iranians, inside and outside the country, rejoiced, even as the threat of more attacks by U.S. and Israeli forces cast a pall over some celebrations.
Landlines and cellphone service were down across Iran, making it difficult to gauge public sentiment in the nation of more than 90 million people as U.S. and Israeli forces struck targets for a second day. Early reports of the death toll in Iran suggested that more than 100 people had been killed in the first wave of strikes.
But in neighborhoods across Tehran, the capital, pockets of exuberance emerged. In video calls with The New York Times, three residents of Tehran showed the scenes unfolding in their neighborhoods: Large crowds of men and women dancing and cheering, shouting, “Woohoo, hurrah.” Drivers passing by honked their car horns. Fireworks lit up the sky and loud Persian dance music filled the streets. Many residents, from their windows and balconies, joined in a chant of “freedom, freedom.”
What "pall" does the NYT see? Iranians are coming out into the streets to celebrate even as the strikes continue. In Tehran, thanks to the arrogance of the mullahs in refusing to build sufficient shelters in case of attack, they may not have much choice. However, they recognize that the US and Israel are relying on precision targeting on regime assets, not random missile strikes on populated areas, which is what the regime is doing to Israel and everyone else in the region right now. They are reasonably safe in the streets, including from the regime itself, which has more than it can handle with the intensifying air strikes.
Donald Trump offered a slightly different take this morning on CNBC. He talked about potential "off ramps," but otherwise declared Operation Epic Fury "ahead of schedule." Netanyahu isn't discussing "off ramps." He wants to clear the way for those street celebrations to transform themselves into a liberation force at the first possible moment – and that's likely what Trump has in mind for an "off ramp," too.
Update: The intensification campaign is not limited to Tehran. Trump just posted an update on Truth Social about naval operations, announcing that the US has sunk nine Iranian ships – and are about to sink the rest:
I have just been informed that we have destroyed and sunk 9 Iranian Naval Ships, some of them relatively large and important. We are going after the rest — They will soon be floating at the bottom of the sea, also! In a different attack, we largely destroyed their Naval Headquarters. Other than that, their Navy is doing very well! PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP
A video showed an attack on shore operations in the last couple of hours, too:
JUST IN 🔴
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) March 1, 2026
IRGC operated Beheshti Pier at Chabahar Port@MohamadAhwaze pic.twitter.com/ZzQ8WIflf3
Iran has a handful of older submarines, or at least had some. Are those part of the nine Trump claims have been sunk? Let's hope so, because those could do a lot of damage to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz ... which is still open and operating for now.
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