People watch as smoke rises on the skyline after an explosion in Tehran, Iran, this morning
Morning Star, 28 Feb 2026
An emergency demonstration has been called outside Downing Street for 3.30pm today to oppose war on Iran, which could escalate into regional or even world war.
Iranian media reported strikes nationwide, and smoke could be seen rising from the capital Tehran. US President Donald Trump announced the start of “major combat operations” and called for regime change in the country, urging Iranians to rise up in collaboration with the attackers.
A huge US armada has built up in the Middle East in recent weeks, larger than that assembled in the Caribbean before the US bombed Venezuela and kidnapped its president last month. Mr Trump suggested the war could be a bloody one, anticipating US casualties and saying “that often happens in war.”
Talks had been ongoing in Geneva over US insistence that Iran abandon uranium enrichment for its civil nuclear power programme, as Washington claims Iran is seeking a nuclear weapon, something it has always denied.
Mr Trump unilaterally tore up the previous agreement on Iranian nuclear power (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, signed in 2015) in 2018, and broke up negotiations on the issue last year by joining an unprovoked Israeli bombing spree as they were under way.
This year’s talks may also have been undertaken in bad faith by the United States, with an Israeli official briefing Reuters that the attacks had been planned for months and the launch date decided weeks ago.
Israel reported yesterday morning that retaliatory Iranian missiles had already begun to hit the country.
Tens of thousands of US troops — and about 4,000 British soldiers — are stationed on bases in the Middle East, which could be targeted by Iran in retaliation.
It is unclear if British bases have been used in any capacity by the US in the attacks. Reports in recent weeks have suggested British authorities objected to involvement in any attack, though Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has also indicated he would be prepared to join US aggression against Iran.
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: “The attacks on Iran by Israel and the United States are illegal, unprovoked and unjustifiable.
“Peace and diplomacy was possible. Instead, Israel and the United States chose war.
“This is the behaviour of rogue states — and they have jeopardised the safety of humankind around the world with this catastrophic act of aggression.
“Our government must condemn this flagrant breach of international law, and urgently pursue a foreign policy based on justice, sovereignty and peace.”
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