On 28 February 2026, Israel and the United States launched airstrikes on Iran, targeting military and government sites, assassinating Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other Iranian officials, and inflicting civilian casualties. The surprise attacks were launched during negotiations between Iran and the US. Iran responded with missile and drone strikes against Israel, US bases, and US-allies in the Middle East, and by closing the Strait of Hormuz, disrupting global trade. After the Middle Eastern crisis began in 2023, Iran and Israel exchanged missile strikes in 2024, and again during the Twelve-Day War in June 2025, which resulted in a US airstrike on Iranian nuclear sites. In January 2026, Iranian security forces massacred thousands of civilians in their crackdown on the largest Iranian protests since 1979. US president Donald Trump responded by threatening military action and starting the largest US military buildup in the region since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Israeli–US airstrikes damaged military bases, government buildings, schools, hospitals, and heritage sites. In retaliation, Iran launched hundreds of drones and ballistic missiles at Israel and at US military bases in Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Iran and its proxies launched strikes on Iraq's Kurdistan. A drone struck Britain's Akrotiri military base on Cyprus, and missiles were shot down over Turkey. Civilian infrastructure was struck, including in Oman. and Azerbaijan. Iran denied attacking Azerbaijan, Oman, and Turkey, saying they were false-flag attacks. The conflict between Hezbollah and Israel escalated into the 2026 Lebanon war, killing more than 1,700 civilians and militants by early April. The Trump administration gave diverse and changing explanations for starting the war: to forestall Iranian retaliation after an expected Israeli attack, to stop an imminent Iranian threat, to destroy Iran's missile capabilities, to prevent Iran building a nuclear weapon, to seize Iran's oil resources, and to achieve regime change by bringing the Iranian opposition to power. Iranian and some US officials rejected claims that Iran had been preparing an attack. The International Atomic Energy Agency said that while Iran has an "ambitious" nuclear program and refused to allow inspections of its damaged sites after the 2025 war, there was no evidence of an ongoing nuclear weapons program. United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres and several uninvolved countries condemned the US–Israeli strikes; the UN Security Council passed a resolution condemning Iran's retaliatory strikes on the Gulf states. Critics of the war, including legal and international relations experts, described the US attacks as illegal under US law and a violation of Iran's sovereignty under international law. The war's economic impact includes the world's biggest oil supply disruption since the 1970s energy crisis, surges in oil and gas prices, disruptions in aviation and tourism, and volatility in financial markets. Oil and gas shipments were disrupted by Iran's closure of the Hormuz Strait and Israeli and Iranian attacks on energy facilities. On 19 March, the cost of the war to the US military was estimated at US$18 billion, and the Pentagon requested a further US$200 billion. By 31 March, the cost to Arab countries was estimated at over US$120 billion. US president Trump claimed victory several times and falsely claimed the Iranian military had been destroyed. Trump then repeatedly threatened to destroy Iran's infrastructure and "civilization" if it did not make a deal with the US and re-open the Hormuz strait. Iran, the US and Israel agreed to a two-week ceasefire brokered by Pakistan, beginning on 8 April. The ceasefire came under immediate strain due to Israeli strikes in Lebanon.
