On Saturday, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz revealed that his country had launched what it called a “pre-emptive strike” against Iran. Shortly after a state of emergency was declared in the country in anticipation of retaliatory attacks from Iran, US President Donald Trump posted a video on social media platform, confirming that his country was also involved in the attack on Iran.
Consequently, footage showing what appears to be cruise missiles flying in the skies over Iraq, before hitting their purported targets in Iran, surfaced on the Internet.
The Pentagon has since named the US’ joint attack with Israel on Iran as ‘Operation Epic Fury.’ Meanwhile, Israel dubbed it ‘Operation Lion’s Roar.’ The first of these strikes happened near the office of Supreme Leader Ayatollagh Ali Khamenei.
Cruise missiles in Iraq skies: Video
Social media pointed to widely circulating fresh footage published on February 28, turning the attention to low-flying cruise missiles over a stretch of green pasture in Iraq. The video purportedly captures a dramatic look at a flock of missiles jetting across the sky while en route to strike targets in Iran. The video has not been independently verified by the Financial Express.
The missiles seen in the clip are believed to be the Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles (TLAM), which are the American-made long range precision missiles for deep land attack warfare.
What fuelled the Israel-US attack on Iran?
The Saturday attack comes after Washington asserted that it has been ramping up the pressure on Tehran to agree to a new deal on its nuclear program. Although Trump eventually confirmed that the US had launched “major combat operations” in Iran alongside Israel, he reiterated, “we sought repeatedly to make a deal.” The POTUS further added, “we are going to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground. It will be totally… obliterated.”
His new Truth Social confession comes after he claimed he had not made a final decision on whether to launch strikes on Iran. Trump has particularly expressed his issues with Iran continuing to develop its nuclear programs and its plans to develop missiles to reach the US.
Over the past few months, Iran has particularly seen citizens protesting against record-high inflation and currency depreciation, with the issue eventually expanding into a bigger movement demanding an end to the Islamic government.
Consequently, Trump has repeatedly urged Iranian people take back the power from the current oppressive regime. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu similarly said the joint US-Israel attack was “to remove an existential threat posed” by Iran. “Our joint operation will create the conditions for the brave Iranian people to take their fate into their own hand,” he added.
Here’s another video showing cruise missiles over Iraq before hitting their targets in Iran. pic.twitter.com/S1GUXCSSiA
— Egypt's Intel Observer (@EGYOSINT) February 28, 2026
The latest attack, however, particularly comes amid the US pressuring Iran into a deal over its nuclear program. On Thursday (US time), both sides held hours of indirect negotiations over the same, but ended up walking away without a deal, while the US gathered a massive fleet of aircraft and warships in the region.
Hours before the culmination of the unsuccessful talks ended, Iranian state TV reported that Tehran was focussed on continuing to enrich uranium, and rejected proposals to transfer it abroad, further indicating that it had no plans to meet Trump’s demands, as the US want to constrain the country’s nuclear program.
According to an Associated Press report, Iran previously claimed that it hasn’t enriched the program since June, but satellite images showed activity at two Iranian nuclear sites bombed last year by Israel and the US.
What are cruise missiles?
According to the Missile Defence Advocacy Alliance, cruise missiles differ from ballistic missiles as they fly towards their target at lower altitudes. They are defined as “an unmanned self-propelled guided vehicle that sustains flight through aerodynamic lift for most of its flight path and whose primary mission is to place an ordnance or special payload on a target.”
Finding its beginnings in World War I, cruise missiles are capable of being launched from multiple ground, air, sea and submarine platforms.
The Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies further describes them as “guided missiles, which can be launched from ship or aircraft and serve as precision bombs. Cruise missiles are of two types: land attack cruise missiles (LACMs) and ASCMs. At present, there are some 130 different types of cruise missiles in the world, and approximately 75 countries have short-range anti-ship cruise missiles (ASCM). The accuracy of the cruise missile has increased with the use of GPS, active radar, television, infra-red, terrain mapping, and so on.”