Social media users are ridiculing Donald Trump’s administration over the reported name of the U.S. military operation against Iran.
Meanwhile, the death toll in the conflict continues to rise, with the violence now spreading as far as Cyprus.
The U.S. and Israel have been carrying out coordinated attacks on Iran since February 28, which allegedly led to the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran. In response, Iran launched missile and drone strikes targeting U.S. military bases in countries including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, and Dubai.
A British military base in Cyprus has also been hit by Iranian drones as part of the widening conflict. The Royal Air Force’s RAF Akrotiri base was struck by a suspected unmanned drone early Monday, causing minor damage to the runway but no casualties, UK authorities confirmed.
In the days following the initial attacks, reports estimate Iran’s death toll at around 555, with hundreds more injured.
Local reports confirm multiple casualties: Israel reported 10 dead and hundreds injured; the U.S. reported four soldiers killed and five injured during Iran’s retaliatory strikes in Kuwait; Bahrain saw one killed and four injured; Iraq reported two dead and five injured; Jordan intercepted 49 drones and missiles with no casualties; Kuwait’s Ali al-Salem Air Base and its international airport suffered one death and 32 injuries; Lebanon reported 31 dead and 149 injured; Oman had five casualties with no deaths; and Qatar reported 16 people injured.
The controversial name
Many people have taken to social media to condemn the bombings as “disgusting and evil,” while even some pro-MAGA figures, such as former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, criticized Trump’s actions.
But the controversy hasn’t stopped there, much of the backlash is focused on the operation’s name.
Social media users have slammed Trump, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and the administration for calling it “Operation Epic Fury,” with many labeling the name “stupid” or “childish.”
“Is it just me or the name of the Operation ‘Epic Fury’ feels like it was picked by someone from Marvel?” one user wrote.
Another added: “In all of U.S. military history, is there a more embarrassing name for an operation than ‘Epic Fury?’ Sounds like the subtitle of the sixth sequel in a mediocre slasher franchise.”
A third commented: “I know it’s small potatoes but Epic Fury is the stupidest military operation name ever. It’s the minions of military operation names.”
And a fourth wrote: “‘Operation Epic Fury’ is the kind of thing I would’ve called it when I played with GI Joe action figures as a child. For an adult to use the name when killing real people is f***** pathetic.”
At the same time, Pete Hegseth says the mission behind the operation is “laser-focused.”
Speaking at a Monday morning press conference, he also described it as “the most lethal, most complex, and most precise aerial operation in history.”
At the opening of his Pentagon press briefing, Hegseth accused Iran of waging what he described as a “savage, one-sided war” against the United States for more than four decades.
He said the Iranian regime had carried out its campaign through attacks such as the Beirut barracks bombing, rocket strikes on U.S. vessels, killings at American embassies, and roadside bombs targeting troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The defense secretary added: “We didn’t start this war, but under president Trump, we are finishing it.”
