2026 Iran war

Since 28 February 2026, the United States and Israel have been at war with Iran and its regional allies. The war follows the Twelve-Day War in June 2025 and sporadic fighting during the Middle Eastern crisis sparked by the Gaza war (2023–present). Amid ongoing US–Iran negotiations regarding Iran's nuclear program, the war began when the US and Israel assassinated Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in airstrikes alongside several other Iranian officials.

American rationale for initiating the war included regime change, preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, a response to the massacre of anti-government protesters in Iran, and taking Iran's oil and gas resources. Critics have rejected these justifications, maintaining that the attack initiated a war of aggression, in violation of international law. Later war goals focused on nuclear negotiations and reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Public opinion was opposed to the war in the United States and in many other countries, leading to widespread disapproval for Donald Trump and declining views of the US and Israel around the world.

The war was preceded in January–February 2026 by the largest US military buildup in the region since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Following a decentralized strategy, Iranian units responded with a series of missile and drone attacks against Israel and US military bases in the Middle East, causing extensive damage, as well as attacked US allies in the Middle East, and blocked the Strait of Hormuz and subsequently claimed sovereignty over it in late March. Following the strikes on their territory, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Bahrain also attacked Iran and skirmished with its Iraqi non-state allies.