Why did US and Israel attack Iran and how long could the war last?

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Conflict across the Middle East continues to rageafter the US and Israel launched wide-ranging strikes on Iran, killing the country’s supreme leader on 28 February.

Iran has continued to respond by launching attacks on Israel and US-allied states in the Gulf, which have extended to non-military targets, including civilian sites and energy facilities.

The fighting has escalated quickly, spreading to Lebanon, with casualties and damage mounting on all sides.

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What has been happening in Iran?

Watch: Huge flames in Tehran after Israeli strikes on oil refineries

The US and Israel first attacked Iran on 28 February, targeting its missile infrastructure, military sites and leadership in the capital, Tehran, and across the country.

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who had led the country since 1989, was killed during the first wave of strikes. Israel’s military said dozens more senior figures in the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) were also killed.

Following Khamenei’s death, on 8 March his son, Mojtaba Khamenei, was appointed as his successor.

On 13 March, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said Mojtaba Khamenei had been “wounded and likely disfigured” in new strikes, pointing out that he had not been seen in public in recent weeks.

Tehran dismissed Hegseth’s claim, with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi saying “there is no problem with the new supreme leader”.

The US and Israel have continued to target key sites linked to Iran’s nuclear programme. Iran has repeatedly insisted its nuclear programme is entirely peaceful.

The two have also ramped up attacks on Iranian oil refineries in recent days. The US has focused on Kharg Island - home to a major terminal that is considered Iran’s economic lifeline.

Who is Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran’s new supreme leader?

On 14 March, the US-based group Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRANA) reported 3,040 people had been killed in Iran – including 1,122 military personnel and 1,319 civilians, of which at least 206 were children. Another 599 fatalities were “unclassified” (civilian/military).

Earlier, on 6 March, Iran’s ambassador to the UN said that more than 1,300 people had been killed.

Iran accused the US and Israel of launching an attack on a girls’ school near an IRGC base in southern Iran on 28 February, saying 168 people, including around 110 children, were killed.

The US said it was investigatingthe incident, while Israel said it was “not aware” of any military operations in the area.

Expert video analysis shows a US Tomahawk missile hit a military base near the school, BBC Verify has reported. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth is now facing questions from Democrats over possible US involvement.

Access to Iran for international journalists is limited, and internet connectivity in the country has been almost entirely restricted.

Outside its territory, an Iranian warship was also sunk by a US submarine in the Indian Ocean near the coast of Sri Lanka on 4 March. At least 87 people were killed.

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Where has Iran attacked?

Iran has described the US and Israeli strikes as “unprovoked, illegal and illegitimate”, and has carried out widespread missile and drone attacks in response.

The IRGC said it had targeted Israeli government and military sites in Tel Aviv and elsewhere.

As of 15 March, Israeli authorities said 12 people – all civilians – had been killed by missile fire since the start of the war.

The deadliest strike - nine killed - was on the city of Beit Shemesh, west of Jerusalem, on 1 March.

There have also been strikes in countries hosting US bases – Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Kuwait – and US-allied Oman and Saudi Arabia.

As of 13 March, 13 US service members had been killed.

Iran has been accused of widening its attacks to other targets, including oil facilities, shipping and civilian sites, such as hotels in Dubai.

At least 18 people have been killed across the Gulf so far, most of them security personnel or foreign workers.

Six people have been killed in the UAE and another six in Kuwait, while Oman, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain have all reported two deaths in each of their countries.

Strikes have also been reported in Iraq, with the country saying it had been struck by Iran on 6 March after explosions at Erbil airport.

A French soldier was killed by a drone at a Kurdish military base in northern Iraq.

Also in Iraq, the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) - formed in the last decade to fight the Islamic State group - said 27 of their members have been killed. Iran supports militias under the umbrella of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI), which are part of the PMF.

Turkey said Nato air defences have shot down three Iranian missiles over its airspace.Azerbaijan also accused Iran of attacking an airport with drones.

The US and its Arab allies issued a joint statement condemning Iran’s attacks, saying “the targeting of civilians and of countries not engaged in hostilities is reckless and destabilising behaviour”.

On 14 March, the Palestinian armed group Hamas, which operates in Gaza, urged Iran to stop attacking Gulf states, in a rare appeal to its key ally.

Elsewhere, a British military base in Cyprus was struck by a drone, according to the UK Ministry of Defence. Western officials later said the drone was not launched from Iran.

On 7 March, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian broadcast a video message on Iranian state television apologising to neighbouring countries that were attacked.

Pezeshkian said Iran did “not intend to invade neighbouring countries” adding that the leadership had issued an order to the armed forces that “from now on”, the military should not attack neighbouring countries “unless attacked first”.

‘All red lines have been crossed’: Gulf states weigh response to Iranian strikes

What’s happening in Lebanon?

AFP via Getty Images

A new front in the war opened in Lebanon on 2 March when the Iran-backed group Hezbollah fired rockets at Israeli positions, saying it was seeking to avenge Khamenei’s assassination.

Israel launched attacks in response, hitting Beirut and parts of southern Lebanon.

In Israel, the defence minister said on 3 March that ground troops would “advance and seize additional strategic areas in Lebanon” in order to stop attacks from Hezbollah.

Since then, Israel has launched regular strikes on southern Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburb of Dahieh, where it says it has struck Hezbollah command centres and weapons storage facilities.

Attacks have also spread to central Beirut, hitting two hotels and the city’s shoreline where displaced people have been sleeping.

As of 14 March, Lebanon’s health ministry said the attacks had killed 826 people, including 106 children.

The BBC has visited the remains of a home where eight members of a family, including three children, were killed in an Israeli strike in Lebanon’s north-eastern town of Younine on 11 March.

More than700,000 people, including around 200,000 children, are displaced from their homes, the United Nations said.

The Israeli military also reported two of its soldiers had been killed as of 8 March.

Why have the US and Israel attacked Iran?

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz described the first attacks on 28 February as a “pre-emptive strike” to “remove threats against the state of Israel”, although he did not explain why there was a need to take military action at this time.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on 2 March the US knew there was going to be Israeli action, which meant America had to act “pre-emptively” in the face of expected Iranian attacks on American forces.

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Brig Gen Effie Defrin revealed that the military operation was preceded by months of strategic deception that caught Iran off guard.

In the US, some lawmakers have called for President Donald Trump’s administration to provide evidence that Iran posed a threat before Washington went to war.

But there are also underlying reasons.

Israel and the US – its closest ally – have been arch-foes of Iran since the Islamic revolution in 1979. The Iranian leadership has consistently called for Israel’s elimination and denounced the US as its greatest enemy.

The two countries have led Western opposition to Iran’s nuclear programme, claiming Iran is seeking to develop a nuclear bomb - something Iran has vehemently denied.

They attacked Iranian nuclear and military sites in June 2025 in a war which lasted for 12 days.

Since then, they have claimed Iran has been trying to rebuild its nuclear programme and develop missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons.

Trump said these missiles could eventually reach the US, though this has not been supported by US intelligence assessments.

For its part, Israel considers Iran a threat to its existence and wants the complete removal of Iran’s nuclear and missile programme, as well as regime change.

The US first openly talked in January about potentially attacking Iran when its security forces cracked down on protesters with deadly force.

But the US and Iran began negotiations and appeared to be making progress until Trump said he was “not happy” with the way the talks were goingon 27 February.Hours later, the US and Israel began attacking.

On 6 March, Trump said there would be “no deal” with Iran unless it agreed to an “unconditional surrender”.

On 14 March, the US president said Tehran wanted to make a deal - but he himself did not want to yet “because the terms are not good enough”.

How is the war affecting the economy and energy prices?

Instability in the Middle East has begun to impact the global economy.

Iran has been accused of attacking ships in the Gulf, forcing the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz - a key artery accounting for about 20% of global oil and gas supply.

Attacks have also been reported on major oil and gas hubs, including in Oman’s Duqm commercial port and the UAE’s Fujairah terminal.

The strikes have prompted some of the world’s largest producers of oil and gas to suspend production, including Qatar’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities and Saudi Arabia’s largest domestic refinery.

Oil and gas prices have surged, prompting warnings about the impact on the global economy and cost of living.

The oil price reached nearly $120 a barrel on 9 March, but dipped after Trump said the war with Iran will end “very soon”.

However, the US president later threatened to hit Iran “20 times harder” if it stopped oil flowing through the Strait of Hormuz.

Multiple cargo ships have been hit in the strait by “unknown projectiles”, British maritime security agency UKMTO said.

One tanker off the coast of Kuwait was hit by a “large explosion” on 5 March, causing an oil spill, UKMTO said.

One person was killed after two foreign fuel tankers were hit by explosions near the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr on 12 March.

Strait of Hormuz: What happens if Iran shuts global oil corridor?

Is it safe to travel to the region and how long could the war last?

On 9 March, Trump made a range of remarks about when the war would end.

Speaking to CBS News, Trump said the war “is very complete, pretty much”, adding: “We’re very far ahead of schedule.”

But later that day he suggested the US would “go further”.

He added that the US was “very close to finishing” what he called an “excursion”.

Trump also laid out an expansive mission for the war. His goal, he said, was to ensure that Iran could not develop weaponry to target the US, Israel or any American allies “for a very long time”.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt previously suggested the war could last up to six weeks.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the start of the war that the campaign would “continue as long as it is needed”.

The war has prompted one of the most serious disruptions to global travel since the Covid-19 pandemic, with airspace closures and thousands of flights grounded across the Middle East.

On 6 March, airline Etihad announced it would begin operating limited flights from Abu Dhabi.

Emirates also resumed some flights, following the partial re-opening of regional airspace.

Airspace in Qatar partially reopened on 7 March, in response Qatar Airways said it intended to operate repatriation flights. It resumed limited operations to and from Doha on 8 March.

The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said anyone planning to travel to the Middle East should check its website for advice relating to their destination.

Additional reporting by Mallory Moench, Raffi Berg, Emily Atkinson, Olivia Ireland, Robert Greenall, Hafsa Khalil, Gabriela Pomeroy, and BBC Persian

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Ali Khamenei