First American combat deaths reported as Operation Epic Fury enters its third day
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Map shows U.S.-Israel military strike locations across Iran
Low-angle view of the Iranian flag waving on a flagpole against a clear blue sky in Tehran, Iran.
Picture of the Israeli flag waving against a clear blue sky in Jerusalem, Israel.
What we know about the joint US-Israel attack on Iran | BBC ...
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US & Israel launch attack on Iran
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Why the US struck Iran
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The unified combatant command responsible for US military operations across the Middle East, including Operation Epic Fury.
Iran's elite military force responsible for the country's missile arsenal, regional proxy network, and internal security — now operating with much of its senior leadership killed.
The legislative branch was notified of strikes shortly before they began but never voted to authorize the operation, prompting bipartisan war powers challenges.
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed in an Israeli airstrike on a Tehran compound where he was meeting with senior officials. Iran's defense minister, an IRGC commander, and the secretary of the security council were also killed. Iran announced an interim governing council.
Three American service members from an Army sustainment unit were killed and five seriously wounded when Iranian retaliatory missiles struck a US military base in Kuwait. Kuwaiti air defenses intercepted several missiles but could not stop all of them.
The US and Israel launched a joint campaign. Four B-2 stealth bombers dropped 14 bunker-buster bombs on underground nuclear sites at Fordow and Natanz. Tomahawk cruise missiles struck Isfahan. Nearly 900 US strikes were conducted in the first 12 hours. Israel flew 200 fighter jets in its largest-ever combat sortie.
American F-35 stealth fighters intercepted and destroyed Iranian MiG-29s that launched from Mazariyeh Air Base, marking the first time the F-35 achieved air-to-air kills against manned adversary aircraft.
Iran launched Operation True Promise-4, firing ballistic missiles at American military facilities in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Regional air defenses intercepted most but not all incoming missiles.
Oman's foreign minister announced Iran had agreed to never stockpile enriched uranium and to accept full IAEA verification, calling peace "within reach." The US-Israeli operation launched the following morning.
With two carrier strike groups, over 150 repositioned aircraft, and stealth fighters at bases in Israel and Jordan, the Pentagon completed its largest Middle East buildup since the Iraq invasion.
Trump demanded Iran publicly declare it would never pursue nuclear weapons, warning: "I will never allow the world's number one sponsor of terror to have a nuclear weapon." Intelligence officials disputed some of his claims about Iranian missile capabilities.
Mediated by Oman's foreign minister, indirect nuclear negotiations between the US and Iran in Muscat were described by both sides as a "good start."
The USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group was redirected from the South China Sea to the Middle East, adding roughly 5,700 service members to the region.
Massive anti-government demonstrations driven by economic collapse spread to more than 100 Iranian cities. The rial crashed to record lows, with inflation at 42% and food prices up 72%.
Israel initiated airstrikes on Iranian nuclear and military facilities. The US joined nine days later with Operation Midnight Hammer, dropping bunker-buster bombs on Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. A ceasefire was reached June 24.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported Iran had accumulated over 408 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60% purity — enough for multiple nuclear weapons if further enriched.
Discussed by: Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Foundation for Defense of Democracies analysts, and senior Republican lawmakers framing the operation as a limited precision campaign
In this outcome, the US and Israel accomplish their stated military objectives — destroying Iran's remaining nuclear infrastructure, degrading its missile arsenal, and eliminating senior leadership — then halt operations and negotiate a ceasefire through Omani or other intermediaries. Iran's interim governing council, weakened and facing domestic upheaval, agrees to verifiable nuclear disarmament. This scenario depends on Iran's retaliatory capacity being sufficiently degraded and on the administration resisting pressure to pursue ground operations or prolonged occupation.
Discussed by: Chatham House, Stimson Center, and multiple Middle Eastern foreign policy analysts warning of escalation risks across Lebanon, Yemen, and Iraq
Iran's remaining proxy networks — including the Houthis in Yemen, militias in Iraq, and remnants of Hezbollah in Lebanon — escalate attacks on US forces and allied states, drawing the conflict beyond Iran's borders. The Houthis have already resumed Red Sea shipping attacks. If proxy escalation forces the US to open additional fronts, the "precision air campaign" framing collapses and the operation begins to resemble the kind of open-ended Middle Eastern entanglement Trump campaigned against. Gulf states that initially supported the strikes could withdraw cooperation if their infrastructure continues to take retaliatory fire.
Discussed by: Foreign Policy, The Intercept, and historians drawing explicit parallels to post-Saddam Iraq and post-Gaddafi Libya
With Khamenei dead, senior military leaders killed, the economy in freefall, and massive protests already underway, the Islamic Republic's governing structure fractures. The interim council proves unable to consolidate control. Competing factions — reformists, IRGC hardliners, ethnic separatist movements — vie for power. This scenario would present the US with the same question that haunted the Iraq and Libya interventions: having destroyed the existing order, who or what replaces it? Iran's population of 88 million is roughly three times Iraq's at the time of the 2003 invasion.
Discussed by: Constitutional scholars at Just Security, the National Constitution Center, and bipartisan sponsors of the Kaine-Paul and Massie-Khanna resolutions
The bipartisan war powers resolutions gain enough support to pass both chambers but fall short of a veto-proof majority, creating a political confrontation without a legal resolution. If US casualties mount or the operation's duration extends beyond weeks, public opinion could shift enough to pressure additional Republican defections. The constitutional question — whether a president can wage an undeclared war of this scale — may ultimately reach the courts, though judicial precedent has historically favored executive discretion in military matters.
The United States invaded Iraq with roughly 130,000 troops, supported by the United Kingdom, after President George W. Bush argued Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction. Congress authorized the war in October 2002. The initial invasion toppled the Iraqi government in three weeks, but the weapons claims proved unfounded.
Saddam Hussein was captured in December 2003. At least 172 coalition troops died during the invasion phase, with thousands of Iraqi military and civilian casualties.
The US occupation lasted eight years, cost over 4,400 American lives and an estimated 200,000 Iraqi civilian deaths, and destabilized the region. The war became a defining cautionary tale about regime change without a viable postwar plan.
Multiple analysts have drawn direct parallels: disputed intelligence claims, regime change as a stated goal, and the question of what follows the existing government's collapse. The Iraq comparison is politically toxic within Trump's own base, where opposition to the 2003 war was a foundational grievance.
After the frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts struck an Iranian mine in the Persian Gulf, the US Navy retaliated by destroying two Iranian oil platforms, sinking or damaging multiple Iranian warships, and shooting down two Iranian fighter jets. The engagement lasted one day and was the largest American surface naval battle since World War II.
Iran's navy suffered severe losses but the broader Iran-Iraq War continued. No US service members were killed.
The International Court of Justice later ruled the US response was not justified as a proportional security measure. The engagement remained the only direct US-Iran military confrontation for 38 years — until Operation Epic Fury.
Praying Mantis established a precedent for US willingness to strike Iran directly, but it was a contained, single-day operation with no casualties and no regime change ambitions. Epic Fury's scale, duration, and goals are of an entirely different order.
NATO launched a 78-day air campaign against Yugoslavia without United Nations Security Council authorization, aiming to stop Serbian ethnic cleansing in Kosovo. The US led the operation with extensive precision strikes, eventually forcing President Slobodan Milosevic to withdraw forces from Kosovo.
No NATO combat deaths from enemy fire during the air campaign. Serbian forces withdrew from Kosovo in June 1999.
Kosovo declared independence in 2008 with contested international recognition. The campaign established a precedent for military intervention without UN authorization but drew lasting criticism over civilian casualties and the bypassing of international law.
Kosovo demonstrated that a sustained air campaign without ground troops can force a government to change behavior — but also showed the limits: it took 78 days, caused significant civilian casualties, and the postwar political settlement remains unresolved decades later. Iran is a far larger and more capable adversary than 1999 Yugoslavia.
