The United States and Israel, whose militaries are closely co-ordinated by Centcom, the regional US central command headquarters, have been launching attacks in different zones and with different targets.
The US is striking missile and drone launch sites in southern Iran that threaten the Arab states of the Gulf, while the Israeli air force focuses on missile launch sites in western Iran that threaten Israel.
Israel prefers what are termed stand-in attacks from Iranian airspace, while the US is using Tomahawk missiles for stand-off attacks, from a distance.
The US tackled Iran’s navy without Israeli involvement. Chairman of the joint chiefs of staff Gen Dan Caine said on Wednesday that more than 20 Iranian naval ships have been destroyed. This includes an Iranian ship off the coast of Sri Lanka which was hit by a US submarine torpedo, in the first attack of this kind since the second World War. An Iranian submarine was destroyed in a separate attack.
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Israeli attacks initially prioritised regime leaders, air defence installations, rocket launchers and missile storage facilities, but then added buildings and compounds identified with the regime’s suppression of domestic opposition, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Basij militia and police buildings.
Despite the intensity of the air bombardment, so far there are no indications that the regime is about to collapse.
There are signs that Washington wants to encourage non-Persian nationalities within Iran to engage Iranian troops in an effort to increase the pressure on the regime and encourage opposition forces to launch a popular uprising.
CNN reported overnight on Wednesday that the CIA is working to arm Kurdish forces, citing several sources familiar with the plan.
Iranian Kurdish armed groups maintain thousands of fighters along the Iraq–Iran border, mainly in Iraq’s Kurdistan region. Since the war began, several groups have issued public statements hinting at imminent action and urging Iranian soldiers to defect. Israeli bombing of sites in western Iran has fuelled speculation that it is seeking to clear the path for a Kurdish advance.
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Iran’s IRGC has carried out strikes against Kurdish groups and targeted Kurdish positions with dozens of drones.
On Tuesday, US president Donald Trump spoke with Mustafa Hijri, the leader of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (KDPI), according to a senior Iranian Kurdish official. The KDPI was among the groups targeted by the IRGC.
Iranian Kurdish opposition forces are expected to take part in a ground operation in western Iran in the coming days, the official told CNN.
“We believe we have a big chance now,” the source said, referring to the timing of the operation, adding that the militias expect US and Israeli support.
Israel has traditionally maintained friendly ties with Kurdish groups in the region and Washington co-operated with some Kurdish groups in Iraq both during the Iraq War and the battle against Islamic State.
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A source cited by CNN said the plan would be for Kurdish armed forces to take on Iranian security forces to make it easier for an uprising of unarmed Iranians in the country’s cities. The outlet assessed that arming the Iranian Kurdish groups would need the support of their Iraqi counterparts to enable the transfer of weapons.
It is not clear exactly how such an operation in Iran by the Kurds would be received by other countries in the region, particularly Turkey, which is likely to oppose the arming of Kurdish groups close to its borders.
An armed uprising by the Iranian Kurds could encourage other separatist groups inside Iran. The country’s ethnic Baluch minority maintains close ties with separatists in Pakistan’s neighbouring restive province of Baluchistan.
