Social media users are mocking Donald Trump’s administration over their reported name for the US military operation against Iran.
The US and Israel have reportedly been working on a coordinated strategy of attacks against Iran since February 28. Those strikes have allegedly resulted in the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in Tehran.
Iran later responded with missile and drone launches, targeting a number of US military sites across the region, including locations in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and Dubai.
As more details have emerged since the first wave of strikes, the reported scale of devastation has come into sharper focus. Iran’s death toll is said to be around 555 people, with hundreds more wounded.
In the aftermath, people have flooded social media with condemnation, describing the bombings as ‘disgusting and evil’. Even some pro-MAGA figures have criticized Trump’s decision-making, including former Fox News reporter Carlson Tucker.
But alongside the outrage over the attacks themselves, another issue has been drawing attention online: the reported name given to the operation.
Trump, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the wider administration have been ridiculed for allegedly calling it ‘Operation Epic Fury’, with critics branding the title ‘stupid’ and ‘childish’.
“Is it just me or the name of the Operation ‘Epic Fury’ feels like it was picked by someone from Marvel ?,” one person wrote.
Another commented: “In all of US 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.”
“I know it’s small potatoes but epic fury is the stupidest military operation name ever. It’s the minions of military operation names,” someone else penned.
A fourth slated: “‘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.”
For now, the strikes are ongoing, with Trump suggesting the campaign could continue for as long as a month.
Iran has since launched attacks affecting Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
An Iranian drone is also reported to have struck a runway at a UK military base in Cyprus.
Local reporting has provided a running tally of casualties across multiple countries. Al Jazeera has stated that Israel reported 10 killed and hundreds injured; the US reported three soldiers killed in Iran’s retaliatory strikes on Kuwait, with five more injured; in Bahrain, missiles reportedly killed one and injured four; Iraq reported two dead and five injured; Jordan said it intercepted 49 drones and ballistic missiles with no casualties; Kuwait’s Ministry of Defence said Ali al-Salem Air Base and its International Airport came under attack, leaving one dead and 32 injured; Lebanon reported 31 dead and 149 injured; Oman reported no deaths but five casualties; and Qatar said 16 people were harmed.