The Middle East continues to experience violent fighting which began after the US and Israel conducted extensive military operations against Iran on February 28, resulting in the death of Iran’s supreme leader.
Iran has retaliated against Israel by attacking US Gulf allied nations.
The combat rapidly expanded to Lebanon, resulting in increasing death tolls and destruction across all participating factions.
What has been happening in Iran?
The US and Israel have targeted nuclear sites that Iran asserts are used solely for peaceful purposes along with Iranian oil and gas facilities.
The site includes Kharg Island which hosts a significant oil terminal that constitutes Iran’s primary economic source.
Israel also targeted South Pars which represents one of the planet’s biggest natural gas reserves.
The US-based group Human Rights Activists in Iran HRANA reported 3230 people had died in Iran by 21 March which included 1167 military personnel and 1406 civilians of whom at least 210 were children. The remaining 657 deaths were categorized as “unclassified” which included both military and civilian casualties.
Iranian authorities claimed that US and Israeli forces carried out an assault on a girls’ school located near an IRGC base in southern Iran on 28 February which resulted in 168 fatalities including approximately 110 children.
The US confirmed ongoing investigation into the situation while Israel declared its lack of military “awareness” regarding activities in that particular region.
International journalists face severe limitations in accessing Iran which also has nearly all internet services blocked throughout its territory.
A US submarine sank an Iranian warship outside Iranian territorial waters in the Indian Ocean close to Sri Lanka on 4 March. The incident resulted in 87 fatalities.
Where has Iran attacked?
Iran condemned the United States and Israeli military operations as “unprovoked illegal actions which lack any legal foundation” and executed extensive missile and drone strikes as its response to those operations.
The IRGC reported that it executed attacks against Israeli governmental and military facilities which it situated in Tel Aviv and other locations.
Israeli officials reported on 22 March that missile attacks throughout the war period had resulted in 16 civilian deaths.
The US base attacks have occurred in Qatar and Bahrain and Jordan and the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait and the US allied nations of Oman and Saudi Arabia.
Thirteen US service members have died in the conflict.
Iran faces charges that it conducted attacks against oil and gas infrastructure and shipping operations and civilian facilities.
The energy complex in Qatar faced an 18 March attack from Iranian forces who sought revenge for Israel’s previous day assault on the South Pars gas site No casualties occurred during that attack.
The Gulf region has recorded at least 20 fatalities which include security personnel and foreign workers who constitute the majority of victims The UAE reported eight fatalities while Kuwait recorded six and both Oman and Saudi Arabia and Bahrain documented two deaths each.
A drone attack killed a French soldier at a Kurdish military base located in northern Iraq.
The Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) established in the last decade to combat the Islamic State group reported that 27 of their members had been killed in Iraq.
An Iranian missile strike killed four Palestinian women who were working at a beauty salon in the Israeli occupied West Bank.
Azerbaijan charged Iran with attacking an airport using drone strikes.
The US and its Arab allies condemned Iran’s attacks because they considered attacking civilians and countries not involved in the war to be dangerous and irresponsible.
On 14 March, Hamas in Gaza asked Iran to stop its Gulf state attacks through a rare request to its main ally.
The UK Ministry of Defence reported that a drone strike hit a British military base which is located in Cyprus. Western officials later said the drone had not been launched from Iran.
Iran reportedly launched two ballistic missiles which targeted the UK military base located on Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean during the past few days. The missiles failed to hit their intended targets.
On 7 March, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian apologized to the countries which Iran had attacked and he declared that military forces should only engage in combat when they face direct attacks from other countries. The attacks have not stopped since that time.
What’s happening in Lebanon?
The war in Lebanon started on March 2 when Hezbollah, an Iran-supported group, attacked Israeli targets with rockets to avenge Khamenei’s assassination.
Israel conducted airstrikes in Beirut to target southern and central areas of the city and attack southern and eastern regions of Lebanon.
The Israeli defence minister declared on 3 March that ground troops would proceed to capture important areas of Lebanon for the purpose of stopping Hezbollah attacks.
The Lebanese health ministry reported on March 20 that Israeli attacks had resulted in the deaths of 1,001 people which included 118 children.
The Lebanese government reported that more than one million people have been forced to leave their homes, which represents about one-sixth of the country’s population.
The Israeli military confirmed that two of its soldiers had died by 8 March.
Why have the US and Israel attacked Iran?
The Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz announced that Israel launched its initial attacks on Iran to protect Israel from existing threats. He failed to provide an explanation for his decision to initiate military operations at this specific moment.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on 2 March Washington knew there was going to be Israeli action which meant America had to act “pre-emptively” in the face of expected Iranian attacks on US forces.
The situation has two distinct layers which need to be examined.
Iran has been considered an enemy by Israel and its main ally the United States ever since the Islamic revolution brought about Iran’s 1979 revolution. The Iranian leadership has continuously demanded Israel’s destruction while designating the United States as its primary adversary.
The two nations have spearheaded Western efforts to oppose Iran’s nuclear program because they assert that Iran is working to create nuclear weapons which Iran has strongly rejected.
The attackers conducted strikes against Iranian nuclear and military facilities during a twelve-day conflict which took place in June 2025.
Israel views Iran as an existential threat which needs to be eliminated through complete dismantling of Iranian nuclear and missile operations and overthrow of the Iranian government.
The United States first revealed its plans to attack Iran which it disclosed in January 2020 after Iranian security forces killed protesters during their crackdown.
The US and Iran started their negotiation process but Trump expressed his dissatisfaction with the progress of the talks on 27 February. The United States and Israel launched their attacks which started hours after the first US and Israeli forces began their operations.
How is the war affecting the economy and energy prices?
The Middle East has started to create economic difficulties for countries all over the world.
Iran has been accused of attacking ships in the Gulf which led to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz – a vital waterway that delivers approximately 20% of the world’s oil supply.
On 21 March Trump issued a 48-hour deadline to Iran for opening the Strait of Hormuz which the US would “obliterate” Iranian power plants if Iran failed to comply.
Iran declared that it would attack US energy and desalination facilities in the region according to his instructions.
The major oil and gas hubs have experienced attacks. The strikes have forced the world’s leading oil and gas producers to stop their operations which resulted in a significant increase in energy costs.
Is it safe to travel to the region and how long could the war last?
He previously laid out an expansive mission for the war which aimed to prevent Iran from developing weapons that could strike the US and Israel and all American allies for an indefinite period.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt previously suggested the war would last approximately six weeks.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that the military operations would continue until their objectives were achieved during his opening address at the war.
The war has created the most severe global travel restrictions since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic which rendered travel non-existent. Some airlines have maintained their flight operations while others have started to operate restricted flights.