{"id":5163,"date":"2026-02-28T20:35:49","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T20:35:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/02\/28\/iran-us-israel-officials-give-civilians-clashing-directives-as-bombs-drop\/"},"modified":"2026-02-28T20:35:49","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T20:35:49","slug":"iran-us-israel-officials-give-civilians-clashing-directives-as-bombs-drop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/02\/28\/iran-us-israel-officials-give-civilians-clashing-directives-as-bombs-drop\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran, US, Israel officials give civilians clashing directives as bombs drop"},"content":{"rendered":"<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p><strong>Tehran, Iran<\/strong> \u2013 Iranians are being directly addressed by leaders inside and outside the country after the United States and Israel launched attacks across Iran, prompting Tehran to respond with a wave of ongoing missile and drone attacks across the region.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn light of the continued joint operations by the US and the Zionist regime against Tehran and several other major cities, if possible while remaining calm, please travel to other centres and cities where it is feasible for you to do so,\u201d read a text message sent to the 10 million residents of Tehran by the government on Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n<section>\n<h2>Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n<p><span>list of 3 items<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span>list 1 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/video\/newsfeed\/2026\/2\/28\/backpacks-schoolbooks-seen-amid-rubble-of-iranian-girls-school\">Backpacks, schoolbooks seen amid rubble of Iranian girls\u2019 school<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 2 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/2\/28\/mapping-us-and-israeli-attacks-on-iran-and-tehrans-retaliatory-strikes\">Mapping US and Israeli attacks on Iran and Tehran\u2019s retaliatory strikes<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 3 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/editorial\/2026\/2\/28\/nine-months-after-12-day-war-us-israel-seek-to-topple-irans-leaders\">Nine months after 12-day war, US, Israel seek to topple Iran\u2019s leaders<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>All outbound roads from the capital were heavily congested with traffic from the morning, shortly after the US and Israel began joint strikes that targeting more than 20 of Iran\u2019s 32 provinces.<\/p>\n<p>Inside Tehran, people also formed long queues in front of petrol stations, even as government authorities emphasised that they remain in control, saying that food and fuel supplies would not be a problem and that <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/1\/28\/iran-delegates-import-powers-as-us-war-threats-keep-economy-unstable\">contingency plans were in motion<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Authorities also accommodated civilians trying to exit the city, including by setting up roadside refuelling stations. Many families were headed to three provinces to the north near the Caspian Sea, as they did during the 12-day war with Israel.<\/p>\n<p>Last June, during the war, US President Donald Trump issued a direct warning telling all Tehran citizens to immediately evacuate.<\/p>\n<p>But in a video message released shortly after the strikes began on Saturday, he urged the Iranian people to stay in their homes and wait for a suitable time to rise up and overthrow the theocratic establishment governing Iran since a 1979 Islamic revolution. He framed it as \u201cprobably your only chance for generations\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Similar sentiments were echoed in separate video messages released by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/features\/2026\/1\/12\/who-is-reza-pahlavi-the-exiled-prince-urging-iranians-to-seize\">Reza Pahlavi<\/a>, the son of Iran\u2019s Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the US-backed shah who was overthrown by clerics led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini during the revolution.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBe vigilant and prepared so that at an appropriate time, which I will inform you precisely, you return to the streets for the final effort,\u201d Pahlavi said.<\/p>\n<p>This was in reference to nationwide protests that gripped Iran in January, during which <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/1\/19\/narrative-war-who-killed-thousands-during-irans-nationwide-protests\">thousands of civilians were killed<\/a>, many on the nights of January 8 and 9.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4348148\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4348148\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/getty_69a3300183-1772302337.jpg?w=770&#038;resize=770%2C1027&#038;quality=80\" alt=\"TEHRAN, IRAN - FEBRUARY 28: Cars sit in traffic amid reports of widespread attacks in the country by the United States and Israel on February 28, 2026 in Tehran, Iran. After explosions were seen in the Iranian capital, the office of the Israeli Defense Minister issued a statement saying it had launched a preemptive strike against the country, followed by a statement from the U.S. president that they had launched combat operations. (Photo by Majid Saeedi\/Getty Images)\" fetchpriority=\"low\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4348148\">Cars sit in traffic in Tehran on February 28, 2026 [Majid Saeedi\/Getty Images]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Iranian authorities claim that civilians were killed by \u201cterrorists\u201d and \u201crioters\u201d armed, funded and trained by the US and Israel. But the United Nations and international human rights organisations have blamed state forces for an unprecedented crackdown against peaceful protesters, and say tens of thousands have been incarcerated and some face execution.<\/p>\n<p>Student protests also took place last week in Tehran and major cities, including the holy Shia city of Mashhad to the northeast and Shiraz to the south of Iran. A number of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/2\/22\/iranian-students-rally-as-universities-reopen-after-nationwide-protests\">students were suspended<\/a>, while others were arrested or summoned by intelligence authorities.<\/p>\n<p>Universities and schools were declared closed after the strikes on Saturday until further notice, according to a directive by the Supreme National Security Council. Most had already been moved online until the end of the Iranian calendar year on March 20 in response to the unrest at other universities.<\/p>\n<p>But dozens of people, many of them children, were killed after <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/2\/28\/israel-strikes-two-schools-in-iran-killing-more-than-50-people\">two schools were hit<\/a>\u00a0in southern Iran\u2019s Minab and in Tehran.<\/p>\n<p>State media showed paramilitary Basij members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) patrolling the streets of downtown Tehran on Saturday afternoon on motorcycles and vehicles and waving flags.<\/p>\n<p>A similar gathering was recorded in Palestine Square, where pro-state groups shouted \u201cDeath to America\u201d and \u201cDeath to Israel\u201d.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"iranians-forced-into-another-internet-blackout\">Iranians forced into another internet blackout<\/h2>\n<p>The opening salvo in Tehran targeted the Pasteur neighbourhood in the downtown area, where government offices are located.<\/p>\n<p>A satellite image and videos of the area showed that the compound housing the offices of the supreme leader was largely destroyed in the strikes. It was not immediately clear if Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was present at the time of the attack, but the foreign minister later told NBC News that Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian were alive \u201cas far as I know\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Minutes after the start of the war, Iranian authorities began shutting down internet connections and mobile phone connections across multiple areas of Tehran. Some mobile connectivity was restored, but the internet shutdown was expanded across the country, with almost all traffic blocked and leaving only few proxy connections working to access the global internet.<\/p>\n<p>The Islamic Republic had imposed an unprecedented 20-day total internet shutdown in January, and heavy state filtering was in place prior to the shutdown on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>Iranian authorities urged citizens on Saturday to only follow official state media, to report any suspicious activity, and to refrain from collaborating with \u201cenemies\u201d on pain of heavy punishment.<\/p>\n<p>As daylight waned, Tehran\u2019s streets emptied, but the sounds of explosions continued to ring loud.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tehran, Iran \u2013 Iranians are being directly addressed by leaders inside and outside the country after the United States and Israel launched attacks across Iran, prompting Tehran to respond with a wave of ongoing missile and drone attacks across the region. \u201cIn light of the continued joint operations by the US and the Zionist regime &#8230; <a title=\"Iran, US, Israel officials give civilians clashing directives as bombs drop\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/02\/28\/iran-us-israel-officials-give-civilians-clashing-directives-as-bombs-drop\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Iran, US, Israel officials give civilians clashing directives as bombs drop\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5164,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5163"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5163\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}