us iran war

Since 28 February 2026, the United States and Israel have been at war with Iran and its regional allies. Hostilities broke out after US–Israeli airstrikes killed several Iranian officials, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The strikes were launched amid ongoing US–Iran negotiations, begun in April 2025, regarding Iran's alleged efforts to build a nuclear weapon.
The attack was preceded by the largest US military buildup in the region since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. US justifications for initiating the war included a response to the crackdown on anti-government protests in Iran, preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, regime change, and taking Iran's oil and gas resources. Critics have rejected these justifications, maintaining that the attack initiated a war of aggression.
Following a decentralized strategy, Iranian units responded with a series of missile and drone attacks against Israel, US-aligned Arab countries, and US military bases across the region, and by blocking the Strait of Hormuz in late March. Two days after Khamenei's assassination, the Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah entered the conflict by launching rocket attacks on northern Israel, sparking the 2026 Lebanon war. Following Iranian strikes on their territory, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait have also attacked Iran and skirmished with its Iraqi non-state allies. The war has resulted in thousands of civilian and military casualties as well as a major disruption of the global economy due to a fuel crisis.
The secretary-general of the United Nations and several countries condemned the US–Israeli strikes, while the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution condemning Iran's retaliatory strikes on Gulf states. The economic impact of the war included the largest ever supply disruption of the global oil market, disruptions of the natural gas, fertilizer, aviation, and tourism industries, and volatility in financial markets. As of June 2026, the cost of the war to US taxpayers was estimated at $113.3 billion.
The parties agreed to a two-week ceasefire beginning on 8 April. It came under strain after Israel attacked Lebanon and Iran refused to re-open the Strait of Hormuz. After the failure of the Islamabad Talks on 12–13 April, the US imposed a naval blockade. On 14 June, a memorandum to end the war was announced, and signed on 17 June by Trump at the Palace of Versailles and by President Masoud Pezeshkian in Tehran. The dual blockade was lifted the next day but tensions escalated. On 28 June, despite multiple clashes, the US and Iran agreed to cease their exchange of attacks. On 8 July, the interim ceasefire deal between the US and Iran collapsed after attacks by both sides.

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