Looking back now, John’s warning seems to have paved the way for the strike in the United States/Youtube

As Washington and Tehran launch a trade crackdown in the wake of Operation Epic Fury, attention has turned to comments made by former CIA official John Kiriakou in the days before the offensive, who publicly suggested an imminent U.S. attack on Iran. On February 28, 2026, the United States and Israel launched a presidential Donald Trump It was described as a “major combat operation” targeting Iran’s missile and nuclear infrastructure. “We will destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground,” Trump declared in a post on Truth Social, adding that the goal was to “make sure Iran does not acquire a nuclear weapon.”The attack comes amid long-running tensions over Tehran’s nuclear program. Western governments accuse the Islamic Republic of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons, a charge that Iranian officials have repeatedly denied. Tehran insists its nuclear activities are for civilian purposes only and insists on its right to enrich uranium under international agreements.

This partially blurred photo provided by the White House shows President Donald Trump speaking with CIA Director John Ratcliffe, left, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House Chief of Staff Suzy Wells during Operation Epic Fury at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, on Saturday, February 28, 2026. (Daniel Torok/White House via AP)

The joint attack caused widespread damage and heavy civilian casualties. According to reports, a school in Minab was attacked, killing at least 153 people and children. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 86, was confirmed dead in a missile attack around Tehran.In response, Iran launched retaliatory attacks against Israel and Gulf countries such as Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait. Military and civilian targets including the US Naval Base in Bahrain and Dubai International Airport were attacked. Airports in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha were closed, leaving thousands stranded. Six days before the attack, Kiriakou said on a podcast that Washington had made the decision to launch the attack.

Warning for February 22nd

Kiriakou appeared on the Julian Dorey Podcast, which was recorded on Friday and released on Sunday, February 22, 2026. The show is also known as Trendsetterhosted by American YouTuber and podcaster Julian Dorey, features long-form interviews with guests from security, intelligence and political backgrounds. During this time, Kiriakou said he received information from a former colleague who visited the White House that morning. “I have a friend, a former CIA officer, and he was talking to his friend at the White House this morning and he said the decision has been made to attack Iran on Monday or Tuesday,” he said. He was referring to February 23-24, four to five days before Operation Epic Fury finally launches on February 28. Kiriakou also urged viewers not to take President Trump’s public deadlines at face value. At the time, Trump gave Iran 10 days to meet U.S. demands, including ending its ballistic missile program, halting uranium enrichment and halting support for Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis.

In this photo released by the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran on Sunday, November 2, 2025, President Masoud Pezeshkian visits the country’s nuclear achievements during a visit to the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran in Tehran. AP/PTI(AP11_02_2025_000149A)

“The president yesterday gave the Iranians 10 days to accept our recommendations to end their ballistic missile program, their uranium enrichment program, and their support for Middle Eastern groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis. But he’s done it before,” Kiriakou said. He continued: “Well, he’s going to give you 10 days, he’s going to give you two weeks, and then he’s going to attack in two days. He thinks that’s going to throw people off balance.” Kiriakou also said other high-profile announcements could distract from upcoming military decisions. Referring to the government’s announcement that it would release documents related to UFOs, he said: “That may be part of the reason, yes. As for them saying they were going to release the UFO documents last night, I’ve been wanting to release these documents forever, but time is limited. “

Divisions within Washington

In the same interview, Kyriakou described what he said were divisions within the government. “He said there were fronts, the anti-war forces were J.D. Vance and Tulsi Gabbard“, Kyriakou said, adding that the side supporting the intervention “is made up of Marco Rubio and include Peter Heggs Now it’s the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “ He expressed surprise at the Joint Chiefs’ stance and linked it to personnel changes over the past year. “Trump has replaced all the members of the Joint Chiefs this year, this year, the last 12 months, and I had forgotten about that,” he said. “He promoted people he knew would be politically loyal.”

in addition, jerusalem postciting disclosures from new york timesReports say hundreds of U.S. personnel have been moved from Qatar’s al-Udeid air base while redeployed to U.S. facilities in Bahrain, Iraq, Syria, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates in a build-up ahead of the attack.

Advance warning about TikTok

A few weeks ago, Kyriakou also spoke publicly about the risks of escalation. In a TikTok video recorded about a month before the attack, he discussed regional concerns about President Trump’s unpredictability. Although the beginning of the video was cut, Kiriakou described a conversation with someone in the UAE government who, in his words, was “genuinely concerned” because they “just couldn’t understand Donald Trump.” He recalled a reporter asking the president who his advisers were, to which Trump reportedly responded: “I don’t have any advisers, I just do what my gut tells me to do.” Kiriakou said this unpredictability contributes to regional instability, adding that “the Iranians are scrambling because they also don’t know what will happen.”

Vehicles drive past a billboard depicting a damaged U.S. aircraft carrier with fighter jets parked on its deck and reading “If you sow the wind, you will reap the whirlwind” in Farsi and English in Enqelab-e-Eslami (Islamic Revolution) Square in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, January 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

He also recounted a conversation with retired Col. Douglas McGregor about Iran’s military capabilities, specifically hypersonic missiles. “The Iranians have hypersonic weapons, the Chinese and Russians gave them the technology, and they developed it domestically. An aircraft carrier is the size of a city, with 25,000 sailors on it, can you imagine if they sank one of those? Or even just damaged it to the point where it needed to be towed to port for two years for repairs, I don’t think anything good would come from an armed conflict with Iran.“

Who is John Kiriakou?

Kiriakou served at the CIA from 1990 to 2004, visiting 72 countries during his tenure. He became the head of counterterrorism operations in Pakistan and participated in the capture of al-Qaeda members. He later became a whistleblower, publicly exposing the CIA’s use of waterboarding. In 2012, he was convicted of passing confidential information to the media and sentenced to 30 months in prison. Since his release, he has been an outspoken critic of what he calls Washington’s interventionist foreign policy. His comments on February 22 did not specify the exact timing or scope of any action, but he claimed that the decision to attack Iran was made in the days before launching Operation Epic Fury on February 28, which was less than a week old.