Murray Wood: Who's hot... and who's not
Every Friday, Murray Wood takes a look back at the week's news and decides who's hot... and who's not. This week's list ...
The U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Saturday in what President Donald Trump said was a massive operation to destroy the country’s military capabilities and eliminate the threat of it creating a nuclear weapon.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry said it would defend its homeland and its Revolutionary Guard said it launched counterattacks, firing drones and missiles at Israel and strikes aimed at U.S. military installations in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar.
Read more:
- VIDEO: U.S. and Israel attack Iran, Canadians told to take shelter
- Russia condemns strikes on Iran as ‘unprovoked act of armed aggression’
- UN nuclear watchdog says it’s unable to verify whether Iran has suspended all uranium enrichment
The strikes came after Trump has pressured Tehran for a deal to constrain its nuclear program, building up a fleet of American warships in the region as the country struggles with growing dissent following nationwide protests.
At least 57 people were reported killed and 45 others wounded at a girls’ school in southern Iran in the Israeli-U.S. strikes, according to Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency. Shrapnel from an Iranian missile attack on the capital of the United Arab Emirates killed one person, state media said.
The regime in Tehran is the principal source of terror in the Middle East and around the world. It tried to build nuclear weapons to annihilate our allies. It massacred tens of thousands of its own people. It orchestrated the attacks of October 7, 2023, murdered Canadian…
— Pierre Poilievre (@PierrePoilievre) February 28, 2026
The Canadian perspective
Air Canada has cancelled Saturday’s flights to and from Dubai. It says no flight was planned to or from Tel Aviv today.
The European Union’s aviation regulator has advised operators to avoid the airspace above Iran, Israel, Lebanon and multiple Gulf states.
Maps from plane tracking platform FlightRadar24 show aircraft steering clear of the region.
Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada supports the U.S. attack on Iran.
Speaking in Mumbai, Carney called Iran the “principal source of instability and terror throughout the Middle East” and said it must never be able to develop a nuclear weapon.
He says Canada backs America’s action to stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and “prevent its regime from further threatening international peace and security.”
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said his party supports the people of Iran and a “democratic, free and permanently-denuclearized Iran.”
His statement mentions Iran’s involvement in the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, as well as the downing of Flight PS752, in which a number of Canadians were killed.
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet said on social media the party is concerned that military force was used by the U.S. without prior support of Congress or allies.
He says both U.S. President Donald Trump and the Iranian regime are showing a lack of regard for civilian lives and international law, and calls for negotiations and sanctions.
Alexandre Boulerice, NDP foreign affairs critic, issued a statement saying the party strongly condemns the bombings of Iran.
He says it risks dragging the entire region into a major conflict.
He calls the Iranian regime “reprehensible” but says its nuclear program must be managed through the United Nations and the International Atomic Energy Agency.
He says the NDP “deplores” the decision by the Carney government to support the action.
Ayatollah’s compound was one of the first targets
Israel announced it had launched an attack on Iran shortly after explosions were heard in Tehran on Saturday morning. One of the first strikes hit near the offices of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. It wasn’t immediately clear where Khamenei was at the time; he hadn’t been seen for days.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told NBC News that Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian are alive “as far as I know.”
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz described the attacks that took part across the country as being done “to remove threats.” Iran’s military, symbols of government and intelligence sites were targeted, according to an official briefed on the operation, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss nonpublic information.
Sirens wailed across Israel to warn the public about possible incoming missile strikes.
Iran strikes back at Israel and U.S. bases
Bahrain said a missile attack targeted the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet headquarters in the island kingdom. Witnesses heard sirens and explosions in Kuwait, home to U.S. Army Central. Explosions could also be heard in Qatar, where Al Udeid Air Base hosts thousands of service members.
Saudi Arabia said on state-run media that it had repelled attacks by Iran on its capital and eastern region.
Iraq and the United Arab Emirates closed their airspace, and sirens sounded in Jordan.
An apartment building in northern Israel was damaged and shrapnel fell in multiple sites, according to media and police. But Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani said there had been no significant hits in Israel and rescue services said there were no injuries reported from missile barrages across the country.
Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen, meanwhile, have vowed to resume attacks on Red Sea shipping routes and on Israel, according to two senior Houthi officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because there was no official announcement from leadership.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 28, 2026
Trump tells Iranians it’s time to topple government
It took over an hour for Trump to make an official announcement on the U.S. involvement in what he termed “major combat operations.”
In an 8-minute video on social media, Trump indicated the U.S. was striking for reasons far beyond the nuclear program, listing grievances stretching back to the beginning of the Islamic Republic following a revolution in 1979 that turned Iran from one of America’s closest allies in the Middle East into a fierce foe.
Trump told Iranians to take cover but urged them to later rise up and topple the Islamic leadership.
“When we are finished, take over your government,” Trump said. “It will be yours to take. This will be probably your only chance for generations.”
The attacks came a day after Trump voiced frustration over lack of progress in negotiations to stop Iran’s ability to develop nuclear weapons.
U.S. military builds up war machinery
Israel said it had worked with the U.S. for months to plan the attacks.
Before U.S.-Iran negotiations were underway in Geneva, the U.S. had assembled a vast fleet of fighter jets and warships in the region to try to pressure Iran into a deal over its nuclear program.
The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and three guided-missile destroyers arrived in January to bolster the number of warships in the region. The world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, and four accompanying destroyers later were dispatched from the Caribbean to head to the Middle East and are now in the Mediterranean.
The fleet has added more than 10,000 U.S. troops to the region.
Fighting grounds flights and disrupts commercial air travel
The fighting disrupted air travel in the region.
Israel and the United Arab Emirates, home to both the long-haul carriers Emirates and Etihad, closed their airspace Saturday. Qatar Airways Group said it has temporarily canceled flights to and from Doha because Qatari airspace also was closed.
Planes en route to Israel were rerouted to other airports.
Virgin Atlantic cancelled its flight from London’s Heathrow Airport to Dubai and said it would avoid flying over Iraq, meaning flights to and from India, the Maldives, Dubai and Riyadh could take slightly longer. Virgin Atlantic said all flights would carry appropriate fuel in case they need to reroute on short notice.
Turkish Airlines said on X that flights to Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran and Jordan will be suspended until Monday and flights to Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Oman would be suspended on Saturday.
Dutch airline KLM previously said it was suspending Tel Aviv flights starting Sunday.
— with files from The Canadian Press
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