On 28 February 2026, Israel and the United States launched airstrikes on Iran targeting its nuclear program, striking more than 1,000 targets in the first 24 hours. An Israeli F-15I aircraft launched an air-launched ballistic missile from over international waters in the Red Sea to strike Supreme Leader Khamenei's compound in Tehran, killing Khamenei, his wife, daughter, two grandchildren, and Mojtaba Khamenei's wife and 14-month-old daughter; Mojtaba Khamenei was severely injured. A double-tap missile strike destroyed the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls' elementary school in Minab on February 28, killing at least 150 people. Iran's Assembly of Experts confirmed Mojtaba Khamenei as the new supreme leader on March 8. US B-1 and B-52 bombers launched missions from RAF Fairford after Britain agreed to allow US aircraft to conduct defensive missions from British bases. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte revealed on June 24 that European allies made their bases available to the US military during Operation Epic Fury, with 4,000–5,000 US planes taking off from European bases over six weeks. Saudi Arabia and the UAE launched unpublicized airstrikes targeting Iran after Tehran struck energy sites in their countries.

General Dan Caine confirmed on April 9 that 13 US service members were killed, with 373 wounded and more than 13,000 targets struck, destroying roughly 80 percent of Iran's air defenses, 90 percent of its navy, 90 percent of its weapons factories, and nearly 80 percent of its nuclear industrial base. The Israeli military launched approximately 10,800 strikes hitting some 4,000 targets. Iranian retaliatory strikes hit Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Israel, Iraq, and Jordan, killing dozens of civilians and damaging airports, hotels, energy infrastructure, and residential buildings. Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel on March 2, drawing Lebanon into the conflict; Lebanon's death toll surpassed 4,000 people by June 29, with 1.2 million displaced. Iran reported 3,468 people killed during the first phase of the war between February 28 and June 7. Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz during the war, strangling global shipping. The US and Iran reached a tenuous two-week ceasefire on April 7, and Trump extended it indefinitely on April 21. Iran reopened the Strait of Hormuz on April 17, though traffic remained far below pre-war levels. Leaked US intelligence assessments concluded by May 1 that Iran had regained access to 30 of 33 missile launch sites and roughly 70 percent of its pre-war missile stockpile.

Trump signed a memorandum of understanding with Iran on June 17 at the Palace of Versailles, committing both sides to a 60-day negotiating window, a reconstruction plan of at least $300 billion for Iran, full release of frozen Iranian assets, removal of the US naval blockade, and toll-free passage through the Strait of Hormuz. The deal contained no restrictions on Iran's ballistic missiles and no requirement to rein in Iran's proxy forces. Mojtaba Khamenei revealed on June 17 that he had held a different view about the MOU but approved it after President Pezeshkian accepted responsibility for the deal.

On July 7, Iran fired at least two missiles at commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz before its IRGC struck three named tankers — including a Qatari-flagged LNG tanker — after they used the Omani route rather than Iran's approved corridor. The US military responded by striking more than 80 targets in southern Iran and revoking the 60-day sanctions waiver on Iranian oil sales. Trump declared the MOU void on July 8 and formally notified Congress on July 10 that fighting had resumed on July 7, invoking his authority to keep US forces in combat for another 60 days without congressional approval. The US launched a second night of strikes on July 8 targeting sites in Bandar Abbas, Sirik, Bushehr province, and Abu Musa Island. Iran's IRGC and regular army retaliated by striking 85 US military facilities in Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar. On July 9, CENTCOM struck approximately 90 military sites and port facilities across Iran, also striking the Aq Tekeh Khan railway bridge in Golestan province; Iranian authorities subsequently repaired the bridge. Iran buried Supreme Leader Khamenei at the Shrine of Imam Reza in Mashhad on July 9 during a six-day funeral procession with between 41 and 43 million participants. Satellite imagery confirmed by July 12 that US strikes had damaged Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant complex between July 7 and 12.

On July 11, the IRGC fired warning shots at a Cyprus-flagged container ship using an unauthorized route in the Strait of Hormuz, killing Indian marine engineer Herambh Karmarkar, 30. The US launched a third round of strikes on July 11 targeting Bandar Abbas and Sirik. Iran disabled a second vessel in the Strait on July 12. CENTCOM confirmed the third-round strikes hit approximately 140 military targets across Bandar Abbas, Sirik, Jask, Qeshm Island, and Khuzestan province. Iran dramatically expanded its retaliatory strikes on July 12, hitting military targets in Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, Oman, and the UAE — marking the first Iranian attack on the UAE in this escalation — and for the first time deploying one-way attack sea drones. On July 13, the US military for the first time used Corsair unmanned surface vessels in combat — kamikaze sea drones that struck a submarine and ship maintenance facility at Bandar Abbas Naval Base. Trump announced the US would reinstate a naval blockade of all Iranian ports, oil terminals, and coastal areas along Iran's entire southern coastline, effective at 20:00 GMT on July 15. Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz on July 13. Mojtaba Khamenei distanced himself from the MOU on July 13, placing responsibility for it on President Pezeshkian, and issued a statement emphasizing the necessity for revenge. The UK government proscribed the IRGC as a national security threat on July 13.

On July 14, Iran launched retaliatory strikes on Bahrain and Jordan, fired missiles at UAE-associated tankers in the Strait of Hormuz killing Indian seafarer Rohan Kumar, 31, and struck a Patriot missile system, fuel tanks, an ammunition depot, and communication systems at US military targets in Kuwait. Iran's IRGC struck al-Juffair Base in Bahrain, targeting weapons storage depots, a satellite communications centre, a building housing US forces, and the US Fifth Fleet. At least 17 seafarers were killed in Iranian strikes on commercial shipping since the conflict began.

The US naval blockade on Iranian ports took effect at 20:00 GMT on July 15 with 21 US naval vessels deployed. CENTCOM conducted strikes on July 15 targeting coastal defense systems, cruise missile storage sites, and IRGC assets on Greater Tunb Island and Abu Musa Island, and also struck two civilian bridges connecting Tehran to Mashhad. Iran's Ministry of Health reported more than 260 people injured and more than 30 civilians killed. A hospital in Ahvaz was hit, forcing the evacuation of 211 patients. Iran's IRGC struck the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain and a US military logistics hub in Mina Abdullah, Kuwait on July 15. The US Navy disabled the Curacao-flagged oil tanker Belma on July 15 and US Marines boarded the M/T Wen Yao in the Gulf of Oman. Approximately 6,000 sailors remained trapped in the Strait of Hormuz under Iranian control as of July 15.

On July 16, US strikes hit infrastructure across Qeshm Island, Bandar Abbas, Chabahar, Iranshahr, and Bandar-e Khamir, with the Bandar-e Khamir bridge strike killing seven people including two girls identified as Sogand Dardmand and Fatemeh Zahra Akbari. For the first time in this escalation cycle, US strikes reached Tehran. Iran struck a power and desalination plant in Kuwait providing an estimated 90 percent of the country's water needs, prompting Kuwait to temporarily suspend operations at its international airport. Iran's IRGC launched Khyber-Shakan ballistic missiles at Jordan's al-Azraq Air Base and struck Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait and Sheikh Isa Air Base in Bahrain. Drones struck Erbil in Iraq, with Iraqi authorities suspending crude oil loading at all terminals after a drone crashed into an oil tanker in Basra. Iran's IRGC intercepted and shot down a US MQ-9 drone over Andimeshk in Khuzestan province on July 16. Trump and Iraqi Prime Minister al-Zaidi agreed on a full US military withdrawal from Iraq by September 30. Vice President JD Vance said on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast on July 16 that some people within the Israeli government were manipulating American public opinion to keep the war going indefinitely.

On July 17, US strikes expanded to hit targets across Tehran, Semnan, Hamedan, Hormozgan, Khuzestan, Lorestan, Markazi, and Sistan and Balochestan provinces, cutting off Bandar Abbas from roads and rail to central Iran. Iran's IRGC launched a 13th wave of retaliatory strikes across Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Jordan, and Syria, targeting US military bases including al-Tanf in Syria; one child was injured by falling shrapnel in Doha. Iranian strikes in Iraq's Kurdistan region killed at least nine Kurdish Iranian opposition fighters from the Komala dissident group. Iran's energy ministry publicly acknowledged for the first time on July 17 that US attacks had successfully hit power infrastructure. Mojtaba Khamenei issued a statement on July 17 vowing to avenge his father's death and declaring the MOU void. Daily transits through the Strait of Hormuz dropped to three by July 17, while Brent crude rose above $86 per barrel.

On July 18, US strikes hit Sirik, Qeshm Island, and Shadegan, and for the first time struck Iran's Darkhovin Nuclear Power Plant in Khuzestan province. US strikes also destroyed the Bonji desalination plant in Hormozgan province and damaged a desalination plant on Qeshm Island, cutting off drinking water to approximately 10,000 people across 20 villages. Iran formally suspended all its commitments under the MOU. Iranian forces struck Camp Arifjan, Ali Al Salem Air Base, US naval facilities at Mina al-Ahmadi port, military installations in Bahrain, and Sheikh Isa Air Base targeting US combat aircraft and an intelligence datacentre. The IRGC struck power and water desalination plants in Kuwait for a second consecutive day on July 19, causing fires. Iranian forces attacked a US base in Jordan on July 18, killing two US service members — identified on July 20 as Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, 19, of Carrollton, Texas, and 1st Lt. Tyler James Feehan, 25, of Ewa Beach, Hawaii — and leaving one service member missing; four additional service members were medically evacuated. A US service member was also killed in Iraq on July 19 during the controlled detonation of a downed Iranian drone, bringing the total US military death toll to 17 killed and more than 400 wounded. The IRGC claimed to have stopped four ships attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz on July 18. The Iranian rial hit an all-time low of over 1.93 million against the US dollar, while prices of basic foodstuffs more than tripled compared to a year ago.

On July 19, US strikes continued for a ninth consecutive night, hitting Sirik, Jask, Chabahar, and — for the first time in this escalation — Tabriz. President Trump directed the strikes at 6pm ET Saturday to degrade Iran's ability to threaten shipping in the Strait of Hormuz; CENTCOM also struck Iranian coastal surveillance, air defenses, maritime assets, and missile and drone stores. Iran's IRGC stopped two oil tankers in the southern Strait of Hormuz and intercepted and shot down a US MQ-9 drone over Eslamabad-e Gharb in Kermanshah province. Iran launched a new wave of retaliatory missiles from Lorestan province targeting US military assets across the region, including missiles aimed at Aqaba airport in Jordan and claims of damage to US C-17 and P-8 aircraft and destruction of 20 hangars at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Azraq; Jordan's military shot down three Iranian missiles and summoned Iran's chargé d'affaires to protest. Daily ship transits through the Strait of Hormuz fell to four vessels on July 19, down from eight the previous day. The US planned to send dozens of additional refuelling planes to Israel as part of a regional force posture reinforcement. Iran reported at least 50 people killed and 517 wounded in US strikes since the June 22 talks.

On July 20, two tankers exploded and were immobilised and a third vessel caught fire near the Omani coast, with the UK Maritime Trade Operations agency confirming the incident. Air raid sirens sounded in Bahrain and the US embassy warned of possible Iranian targeting of locations in central Manama. Brent crude climbed above $90 a barrel, its highest level since June. Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi publicly backed a negotiated end to the war in a televised interview but subsequently clarified that Iran would only negotiate when it had achieved military superiority. Iran reported at least 3,000 Iranians killed since the war began on February 28, including 168 children. BBC Verify reported that official figures showed more than 7,300 people killed in Iran and Lebanon since the war began.