2025 – Present
ONGOINGThe United States entered the June 2025 Israel-Iran war with Operation Midnight Hammer, striking Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan on June 21-22. Seven B-2 bombers flew from Whiteman Air Force Base and dropped fourteen GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators on Fordow and Natanz, while a guided-missile submarine launched Tomahawk missiles against Isfahan. Iran retaliated against Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar without reported casualties, and a ceasefire began June 24. A much larger United States-Israeli campaign, Operation Epic Fury, began February 28, 2026. It killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, triggered Iranian attacks on Israel and Gulf states, and was followed by Iran’s March 4 closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Civilian harm was extensive: the UN reported Iranian government figures of more than 2,100 civilians killed and 27,900 injured in Iran by March 30. Iran announced the strait fully open on April 17 during a ceasefire. A June 15 agreement and June 17 Islamabad memorandum created a negotiating framework, but renewed strikes in late June and July endangered it. The United States reinstated its naval blockade of Iranian ports on July 14; by October it had diverted 135 ships and, by Iran's own account, effectively halted Iranian oil exports. In September the IRGC fired ballistic missiles at US warships, CENTCOM struck eight Iranian tankers in response, and Iran fired missiles at Jordan. Trump rejected Iran's seven-day plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for ending the blockade, though indirect talks through Qatar continued, and pledged not to strike Iran before the November 3 midterm elections. By late October both sides were openly preparing for another round. The conflict remained unresolved as of October 23, 2026.
Deep Root
The 1953 CIA- and MI6-backed coup that ousted Iran's elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh set Iran on a path toward the 1979 Islamic Revolution and decades of anti-American hostility. Nearly every US-Iran confrontation since — hostage crisis, proxy wars, sanctions, nuclear standoff — flows from that intervention.
Pattern of Intervention
Operation Countenance (1941) saw Britain and the Soviet Union jointly invade and occupy Iran to secure oil supply lines and prevent any tilt toward Nazi Germany. It established a pattern of major-power military action on Iranian soil for strategic resource reasons that Iran has never forgotten.
Regional Context
The Gulf War cemented a permanent US military presence across the Middle East. The post-1991 network of US bases in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait defined Iran's encirclement anxiety and its conviction that a nuclear deterrent was the only guarantee of regime survival.
Chapter-by-chapter narrative with maps, primary sources, and key events.
Explore battles on a live map with a timeline slider and territory overlays.
Deep-dive into every major engagement — commanders, casualties, significance.
Biographical flip cards with real portraits, facts, and full biography pages.
Trace each figure's full life journey — birth, education, battles, and death — on a live map.
Scroll-driven visualization of casualties — each dot a thousand lives.
Weapons, war machines, and the military innovations that defined how this conflict was fought.
Cause-and-effect chains tracing the war's long shadow on history.
War crimes, massacres, and the darkest chapters of this conflict — documented for history.
The United States entered the June 2025 Israel-Iran war with Operation Midnight Hammer, striking Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan on June 21-22. Seven B-2 bombers flew from Whiteman Air Force Base and dropped fourteen GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators on Fordow and Natanz, while a guided-missile submarine launched Tomahawk missiles against Isfahan. Iran retaliated against Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar without reported casualties, and a ceasefire began June 24. A much larger United States-Israeli campaign, Operation Epic Fury, began February 28, 2026. It killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, triggered Iranian attacks on Israel and Gulf states, and was followed by Iran’s March 4 closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Civilian harm was extensive: the UN reported Iranian government figures of more than 2,100 civilians killed and 27,900 injured in Iran by March 30. Iran announced the strait fully open on April 17 during a ceasefire. A June 15 agreement and June 17 Islamabad memorandum created a negotiating framework, but renewed strikes in late June and July endangered it. The United States reinstated its naval blockade of Iranian ports on July 14; by October it had diverted 135 ships and, by Iran's own account, effectively halted Iranian oil exports. In September the IRGC fired ballistic missiles at US warships, CENTCOM struck eight Iranian tankers in response, and Iran fired missiles at Jordan. Trump rejected Iran's seven-day plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for ending the blockade, though indirect talks through Qatar continued, and pledged not to strike Iran before the November 3 midterm elections. By late October both sides were openly preparing for another round. The conflict remained unresolved as of October 23, 2026.
US–Iran Conflict was fought from 2025 to the present day.
US–Iran Conflict was fought between United States & Israel and Iran & Allied Militias.
An estimated 7,845 people died in US–Iran Conflict, including roughly 4,130 military and 3,715 civilian deaths. Figures are scholarly estimates and vary by source.
Major engagements included Operation Epic Fury, The Lebanon Front, Renewed July Hostilities, and Strikes on Gulf States and US Bases.