Israel Joins U.S. 'Operation Epic Fury' In New Fighting With Iran

The U.S. and Israel have commenced combat operations against Iran after weeks during which the Pentagon shifted massive amounts of firepower into the region.

The two countries attacked dozens of military targets in "a broad, coordinated and joint attack against the regime,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said. The operation caused widespread disruption to airline operations across the Middle East.

U.S. President Trump said the forces were targeting Iran's missile production industry and the Iranian navy.

The operation began in the morning rather than at night to preserve an element of surprise, the IDF said. The war plan has been months in the making, it noted, and is built around intelligence efforts to strike senior Iranian regime targets when those officials convene. 

Israel employed Lockheed Martin F-35s and Boeing F-15s, IDF imagery showed. The U.S. had deployed Lockheed Martin F-22 and Boeing KC-46 tankers to Israel in advance of the strike. The Pentagon also had shifted F-35s and support aircraft to the region, including at sea.

The Pentagon has named the mission Operation Epic Fury. It is called “Roaring Lion” by Israel. 

The IDF said it had built up a large list of targets and potential targets to strike. "Israel is prepared to attack Iran as long as necessary," it added. 

The latest operation comes eight months after Israel and Iran engaged in twelve days of fighting in what Israel called Operation Rising Lion. The U.S. also bombed Iranian nuclear infrastructure at that time, using U.S.-based Northrop Grumman B-2 bombers. Trump, at the time, said the Iranian nuclear program had been destroyed.

“Dozens of Israeli Air Force fighter jets completed the opening blow, which included attacking many targets of the terror regime, including military industries, surface-to-surface missiles, command and control targets, and more,” IDF spokesman Brig. Gen. Effi Dafrin said.

In response to U.S. and Israeli strikes, Iran fired missiles and drones throughout the region, with media and government reports showing the countries targeted included Bahrain, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Israel said its air defense system was identifying and intercepting threats. The UAE, Kuwaiti and Qatari defense ministries also said their air defenses had dealt with ballistic missiles fired by Iran, but that falling debris killed one person on the ground.

Israel was targeting Iranian ballistic missile launchers to suppress those attacks.

With the fighting underway, many countries in the Middle East closed their airspace, including Kuwait, Iraq, Bahrain, Qatar and Iran itself. Multiple airlines said they have suspended flights to the Middle East.

Emirates said it has “temporarily suspended operations to and from Dubai.” Dubai Airports said that some flights were delayed or cancelled. Qatar Airways, too, said it had to suspend flights because of the closure of Qatari airspace. Flights would resume once airspace is reopened, it added. 

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) issued a Conflict Zone Information Bulletin advising airlines to not operate in the airspace of Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, the UAE and Saudi-Arabia citing a "high risk" to commercial aviation. “Given the ongoing military intervention, retaliatory actions against U.S. and Israeli assets in the region are likely to occur, introducing additional high risks not only to the airspace of Iran but also to that of neighboring states hosting U.S. military bases or otherwise affected by the hostilities and associated military activities, including interceptions,” EASA stated.

“The possession of all-altitude capable air-defense systems, cruise and ballistic missiles and the use of air assets capable to operate at all-altitudes, including interception capability make the entire affected airspace vulnerable to spill-over risks, misidentification, miscalculation and failure of interception procedures," EASA said.

The agency said it would cotinue to monitor developments with the European Commission and member states and update guidance as required.