Operation Epic Fury began on February 28, 2026, when the United States and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran, killing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and triggering a regional war.
US and Israeli forces carried out nearly 900 strikes in the first 12 hours, targeting Iranian missile sites, air defences, military infrastructure and senior leadership.
The opening attack also hit a girls’ school near an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps naval base in Minab, near Bandar Abbas, killing about 170 civilians.
Iran moved quickly to prevent a leadership vacuum. Mojtaba Khamenei was appointed supreme leader in early March, while the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps gained greater influence over wartime decision-making.
Iran responded with hundreds of missiles and thousands of drones targeting US bases, embassies and allied states across the Gulf, including the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Oman and Jordan.
The war also reignited the Israel-Hezbollah front in Lebanon. Israeli strikes and a limited ground invasion displaced more than 1.1 million people by late March.
The Strait of Hormuz became the war’s main economic flashpoint. Commercial traffic through the waterway, a route for about a quarter of global maritime oil trade, fell sharply as Iran restricted shipping and the United States later imposed a naval blockade.
Oil prices rose from about $70 a barrel before the war to an average of $103 in March, causing fuel shortages in parts of Asia.
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A Pakistan-brokered ceasefire took effect on April 7-8 after more than five weeks of fighting. Direct talks later took place in Islamabad between US Vice President JD Vance and Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, but core disputes over Hormuz access, sanctions and Iran’s nuclear programme remained unresolved.
