Iran-Israel-US Conflict 2026

Israel, Iran, the United States, Hezbollah, and Hamas remain the principal belligerents in a war that has fundamentally reshaped the Middle East since 28 February 2026. As of mid-April, a Pakistan-brokered Ceasefire framework — the Islamabad Accord, agreed in principle on 8 April — has produced neither a signed instrument nor Strait of Hormuz reopening. Iran struck five Gulf states on ceasefire Day 1 , exposing how FAR command authority over the IRGC has drifted from civilian hands. The Lebanon ground theatre and Iranian territorial strikes remain active; over 3.2 million Iranians and 800,000 Lebanese civilians have been internally displaced. Combat costs run to approximately $900 million per day (CSIS).

The conflict began in the early hours of 28 February 2026 when joint US-Israeli airstrikes struck Tehran, Isfahan, Qom, Karaj, and Kermanshah in a single night — the first simultaneous Israeli ground invasion of Lebanon and direct territorial strikes on Iran in four decades of proxy warfare. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed in the opening strikes. US B-2 bombers hit hardened underground nuclear facilities at Natanz and Fordow using 2,000-lb penetrating munitions. Iran retaliated by closing the Strait of Hormuz on Day 2 and fully activating its Decentralised Mosaic Defence doctrine on Day 5, restructuring the IRGC into 31 autonomous provincial commands authorised to strike independently.

The conflict's consequences extend well beyond the immediate theatre. The IEA called it the largest supply disruption in the history of global oil markets , with Brent peaking above $116 and Gulf export terminals disrupted. Russian fossil fuel revenues rose 14% above February averages within the first two weeks of the conflict as sanctions-eroded buyers pivoted back to Russian supply . China transits Hormuz freely under an Iran-granted exemption; every other buyer faces either blocked passage or the IRGC's informal toll corridor. Watch: Ceasefire renewal talks (Islamabad format, Pakistan-only Mediation), Hormuz insurance-market reopening signals, and whether the nuclear monitoring concession secured by Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir on 16 April survives into a formal IAEA framework.