Media reveals what delayed US and Israeli operation against Iran by a week

Axios has reported, citing US and Israeli officials, that the United States and Israel had planned to strike Iran a week earlier but postponed the operation for a number of intelligence and operational reasons, including weather conditions.

According to Axios, after the second round of US–Iran talks held on 17 February in Geneva ended without significant progress, US and Israeli military planners had been preparing to carry out strikes on Saturday 21 February.

US and Israeli officials said the plans were subsequently delayed, with poor weather in the region cited as one of the key reasons.

Another source said the postponement was driven primarily by the US side and was linked to the need for better coordination with the Israel Defenсe Forces.

Sources also offered differing explanations as to why diplomatic talks continued until the last moment.

During consultations in Geneva, the US president’s special envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, returned to the Iranians with a final proposal.

It included a demand for a 10-year moratorium on Iran’s uranium enrichment, followed by the restoration of capacity in symbolic amounts. The United States also offered Tehran free nuclear fuel supplies to meet its civilian needs.

Iranian representatives rejected the proposal. Kushner and Witkoff reported this to Trump, after which he launched the operation against Tehran.

On the morning of 28 February, Trump announced that the US had launched a large-scale operation against Iran. Israel also carried out strikes.

Iran responded by launching strikes on several Gulf states where US military bases are located.

Trump said on Sunday 1 March that the US operation in Iran is "moving along very well, very well – ahead of schedule".

The US military said three service members had been killed in action as part of the operations in Iran.

According to a new poll, only one in four Americans supports Trump’s actions against Iran.