Israel and the United States Launch Widespread Attacks on Iran

What Happened?

Israel and the United States launched a widespread series of airstrikes on hundreds of targets throughout Iran this weekend in hopes of toppling the current regime in Tehran.

In response, Iran has launched hundreds of missiles at targets in Israel, Saudi Arabia, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iraq. In the initial strikes on Iran, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei was killed, and his death has been confirmed by the Iranian government.

Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy in Lebanon, has joined the fight by launching a missile barrage against northern Israel, and the Houthi in Yemen, who are also an Iranian proxy, have promised they will join the fight as well.

Why it Matters

The result of the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran and the Iranian response is a new and major theater-wide war in the Middle East. This is not a limited strike on Iranian nuclear facilities or a handful of Iranian missiles targeting Israel. Nearly every country hosting an American military installation in the Middle East has been hit by Iranian missiles, though thus far, missile defense systems have downed many of the incoming projectiles.

Israel and the United States have openly called for the people of Iran to rise up against the ruling regime in Tehran, which means the main objective of the current military operations is regime change in Iran. Whether the Iranian people are willing or able to do so remains unclear.

In January 2026, an uprising swept Iran, but the regime responded with a brutal crackdown that likely killed tens of thousands of Iranians and put at least a temporary end to the uprising. A key change to the overall situation is the death of Ayatollah Khamenei.

Though widely unpopular in Iran, Khamenei was eighty-six years old and in declining health, which means the government of Iran had been preparing for his death for a long time.

Those preparations were evident after his killing by U.S. and Israeli airstrikes, because Iran almost immediately formed a new three-person interim council to lead the government until a new Supreme Leader can be chosen. Whether that can be done under wartime conditions is another unknown, since the current regime has only had two Supreme Leaders since its inception in 1979, and Khamenei was the second.

U.S. Central Command announced that three American servicemen had been killed in action and eight more wounded, numbers that are likely to climb as the conflict continues. Iranian news sources have said hundreds of Iranians have been killed in the airstrikes, but exact figures are likely to remain uncertain for days or possibly even weeks. Israel has suffered at least one mass casualty event from the impact of Iranian missiles in northern Israel. 

How it Affects You

Global ramifications from the new war in the Middle East include spiking oil prices, due to the damage to oil facilities in Saudi Arabia and the closing of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran.

An elevated threat of potential terrorist attacks in Europe and the United States has led U.S. installations to impose additional security measures, as Iranian-affiliated terrorist groups could retaliate by targeting Americans in Europe and the United States. 

The Trump Administration has indicated combat operations could continue for several weeks or until all objectives are met, though specifics about operational objectives have yet to be provided to the public.