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This Thursday, on the sixth day of the armed conflict between Iran, Israel, and the United States, Iran launched a new wave of missiles against Israel and attacked a U.S. oil tanker in the Persian Gulf, setting it ablaze, with no immediate casualties reported on the Israeli front.
The conflict erupted on February 28 with a surprise attack coordinated by the air forces of Israel and the U.S., referred to as 'Operation Roaring Lion' by Israel and 'Operation Epic Fury' by the United States. The immediate catalyst was the failure of nuclear negotiations in Geneva, where Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that 'a breakthrough was unlikely' in light of Iran's refusal to discuss its ballistic missile program. When Iran attempted to reopen dialogue, Trump responded with two words: 'Too late.'
In the initial attack, the supreme leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei, aged 86, along with his wife and a 14-month-old granddaughter, were killed. Israel launched over 1,200 munitions in 24 hours targeting more than 900 Iranian sites, primarily in the western part of the country, and conducted a total of 1,600 air sorties with 4,000 munitions in the initial days. Among the targets hit were 40 high-ranking Iranian officials killed and the destruction of half of Tehran's missile launchers.
Iran responded with 'Operation True Promise 4', launching more than 500 ballistic missiles and over 2,000 drones against Israel and U.S. military bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard presented the action as a response to the attacks by Israel and the U.S. and as a reaction to the death of Jamenei. The United Arab Emirates reported detecting 812 Iranian drones since the beginning of the conflict, of which 755 were intercepted.
In Iraq, the Revolutionary Guard attacked the Erbil base in Iraqi Kurdistan with dozens of drones, and one drone struck the Victoria base near Baghdad International Airport. The U.S. embassy in Riyadh was also targeted by Iranian drones, prompting Washington to close its embassies in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Additionally, the U.S. reported three F-15 aircraft shot down due to friendly fire.
U.S. casualties have risen to six soldiers killed. On Wednesday, General Dan Caine identified four of them: Captain Cody Khork, Sergeant First Class Noah L. Tietjens, 42 years old, from Nebraska; Sergeant First Class Nicole M. Amor, 39 years old, from Minnesota; and Sergeant Declan J. Coady, 20 years old, from Iowa, all from the 103rd Sustainment Command, who died on March 1 in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait. 'It is with deep sadness and gratitude that I share the names of four of our six fallen heroes,' stated Caine.
On the Israeli-Lebanese front, Israel authorized a ground invasion of Lebanon on Tuesday, with tanks advancing to Hiam, 6 km from the border. Israeli bombings on Wednesday in Lebanese territory left at least 56 dead and 335 injured. Hezbollah claimed rocket attacks against northern Israel as 'revenge for the death of the ayatollah of Iran'. The U.S., for its part, has carried out over 1,700 airstrikes against Iranian facilities, including the nuclear site at Natanz, whose damage was verified by the IAEA with no radiological consequences, and has destroyed 17 ships and an Iranian submarine.
President Trump estimated a duration of 4 to 5 weeks for the operation, although Israel warns that the conflict could extend for months. Marco Rubio revealed that 9,000 American citizens were evacuated from the region, while the price of oil rose to about $81 per barrel due to the threat to the Strait of Hormuz.
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