As noted in an earlier Seeking the Way column, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance had warned in mid-February that “all options on the table” if Iran didn’t advance in diplomatic talks to both cease any efforts to produce nuclear weaponry and ceasing to jail or kill Iranian protestors calling for an end to the reign of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the Islamic Republic of Iran.
In early coverage, the Economist summed up the opening salvos: “Weeks of gunboat diplomacy came to an end as American and Israeli warplanes began bombing targets across Iran on February 28th. The first signal to the outside world that war had begun was a siren breaking the Shabbat quiet across Israel, telling residents to remain close to shelters. Minutes later, footage showed columns of smoke rising over Tehran.”