Indonesian Citizen Hears Explosions During Israel-US Attacks on Iran, Tempo.co
By Novali Panji Nugroho for Tempo.co, February 28, 2026
The signal on Agiel Laksamana Putra’s cellphone was interrupted as Israel and the United States attacked several parts of Iran on Saturday morning, February 28, 2026. The Indonesian citizen is currently pursuing a master’s degree at Ahlul Bayt International University in Iran.
“The network is now starting to become unstable,” Agiel said, when contacted on Saturday, February 28, 2026.
As Israel launched airstrikes on various parts of Iran, Agiel was in downtown Tehran. The President of the Indonesian Students Association of Iran for the 2025-2026 period said he heard distant explosions following the Israeli attacks.
“I heard explosions, but it seems like Iran’s air security system managed to block them,” said Agiel.
He said he saw no buildings damaged by the attack. He then returned to his dormitory in the capital.
Agiel said he received information from the Indonesian Embassy in Iran to remain in a safe location. “The instructions were to avoid crowds and to keep informed of developments in their respective locations,” he said.
Shortly after Israel launched airstrikes on Iran, he observed that the situation in the Tehran area was relatively calm and had returned to normal. There were no signs of further attacks, he related.
He said people were still visible outside their homes or in open areas after the attack. “People were still carrying out their activities as usual, there was no panic,” Agiel said, recounting what he had seen.
As previously reported, several explosions were heard in Tehran, the Iranian capital, on Saturday morning, February 28, 2026, following the Israeli attack. A United States official told Al Jazeera that the attack on Iran was carried out as a joint military operation between America and Israel.
Explosions were also heard in Qatar, Kuwait, and Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and Manama, Bahrain, which host US military bases, on Saturday, February 28, 2026. This was as missiles were launched from Iran towards Israel following Israeli and US attacks, officials said, as reported by Anadolu Agency and Al Jazeera.
Following the attack, Qatar, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates closed their airspace. Bahrain has confirmed that the headquarters of the US Navy’s 5th Fleet was targeted by a missile attack.
The Qatari Ministry of Defense reported that an Iranian missile had been intercepted by a Patriot defense system. Meanwhile, Iraq, Iran’s neighbor, also closed its airspace to prevent misdirected fire. Sirens sounded in Jordan to alert the public to the state of emergency.
The Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Jakarta, in a press release sent to Tempo.co on February 28, 2026, said that today’s joint attack by the United States and the Zionist regime of Israel on civilian sites and vital infrastructure in Tehran and several other cities constituted a violation of the territorial integrity and national sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
According to the Embassy, this attack also constituted a violation of Article 2, paragraph 4 of the United Nations Charter and a clear act of aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran.
“Responding to this aggression is the Islamic Republic of Iran’s legitimate right under Article 51 of the UN Charter. The Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will exercise this right to the fullest extent to defend the territorial integrity and national sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran by providing a firm and strong response to the aggression of the Zionist regime of Israel and the United States,” the Iranian Embassy said.
As a founding member of the UN, whose primary purpose is to prevent aggression, breaches of the peace, and threats to the peace, the Islamic Republic of Iran emphasizes the responsibility of the UN Security Council to take immediate action in response to the violation of international peace and security resulting from the Zionist regime’s blatant aggression against Iran, the Iranian Embassy said.
The Islamic Republic of Iran called on the chairman and members of the Security Council to take immediate action in this matter, the Iranian Embassy said.
Sita Planasari contributed to the writing of this article. Novali Panji Nugroho is a graduate of the Development Economics Study Program at Muhammadiyah University of Surakarta who joined Tempo magazine in September 2023, and is currently writing for the National Affairs Desk primarily on political and defense issues.
This post is based on https://www.tempo.co/politik/cerita-wni-dengar-dentuman-saat-israel-as-serang-iran-2118587. Featured Image Credit: Karbala City in Iraq, By Karbobala.com, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=63424456.
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