Middle East · 21 February 2026 to 8 September 2026 · 1064 headlines · BBC News, New York Times, Al Jazeera, AP, Fox News, Wall Street Journal, CNN, South China Morning Post

The US-Israel war on Iran

US and Israeli strikes on 1 March killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and opened a war that has run for six months: a month of bombardment and Iranian retaliation across the Gulf, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a two-week ceasefire in April that became a blockade, a deal signed in June that never quite reopened the strait, and strikes that resumed in July. Compiled from the front pages of eight outlets; every date is a day the story led.

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Key developments

8 September 2026 Strikes intensify in the Strait of Hormuz; oil surges.
7 September 2026 Iran says it will announce an exclusion zone near the strait.
31 August 2026 The US strikes Iranian rocket launchers on the strait, its first military action in weeks; Iran attacks US forces in retaliation.
26 August 2026 Trump says all mines have been cleared from the strait.
25 August 2026 The US announces new sanctions; Iran warns of a harsh response.
21 August 2026 The USS Abraham Lincoln leaves the Middle East.
19 August 2026 Trump says no talks are planned. CNN reports Iran has lost significant control of the strait.
15 August 2026 Trump proposes declaring the Strait of Hormuz US territory. Two UAE tankers are attacked in transit.
9 August 2026 Iran makes new demands around the strait.
6 August 2026 Iran says it has agreed a Hormuz shipping route with Oman.
3 August 2026 Oman Trump halts attacks; Iran says negotiations with Oman over Hormuz are in their final stages.
29 July 2026 Riyadh US and Saudi forces launch coordinated strikes. Iran and Oman exchange proposals to manage the strait.
27 July 2026 The US and Iran pause strikes for a second day.
24 July 2026 A thirteenth night of strikes. Oil passes $100 again; Gulf producers step up plans to bypass the strait.
23 July 2026 Yemen Yemen's Houthis claim attacks on oil tankers.
22 July 2026 Amman A US soldier killed in an attack in Jordan is identified as strikes reach an eleventh night.
18 July 2026 The seventh straight night of US strikes on Iran.
15 July 2026 The blockade is restored; the fee idea is scrapped.
14 July 2026 Trump announces the blockade will be restored and floats a 20 percent fee for US protection in the strait; oil jumps nine percent.
12 July 2026 Iran closes the strait and attacks Gulf states; the US strikes again. Iran hits five Gulf nations the next day.
9 July 2026 Trump declares the ceasefire over. A new wave of strikes; oil rises and stocks fall.
8 July 2026 Three ships are hit in the strait; the US launches new strikes and revokes the oil waiver.
29 June 2026 Both sides stand down for now after exchanging strikes over Hormuz.
27 June 2026 The US strikes Iran in retaliation for the ship attack, then again the next night.
26 June 2026 An IRGC drone hits a cargo ship in the strait; the UN pauses the evacuation.
24 June 2026 The UN begins evacuating 11,000 stranded sailors; dozens of ships transit. The Senate delivers a symbolic rebuke.
21 June 2026 Iran closes the strait again three days after signing; new talks are set for Switzerland.
18 June 2026 The US and Iran sign the deal; the strait is to reopen immediately, Pakistan says. G7 leaders back it; the Geneva signing ceremony is cancelled.
17 June 2026 Iran says the deal requires Israel to withdraw from Lebanon.
15 June 2026 A tentative deal to end the war. Trump orders a stop to the naval blockade; oil slides and stocks soar.
12 June 2026 Trump calls off strikes and says a deal to end the war is close. Satellite images show more than 50 Iranian bases damaged.
11 June 2026 Iran closes the Strait of Hormuz to all ships.
10 June 2026 The US strikes Iran after an Army helicopter is shot down; the crew is rescued by sea drone.
8 June 2026 Iran launches missiles at Israel for the first time since the April ceasefire; both pause the next day.
4 June 2026 Washington The House votes to halt the Iran war, a rebuke to Trump. Iranian drones hit Kuwait's airport.
29 May 2026 Negotiators reach a tentative deal for a 60-day ceasefire extension and new nuclear talks.
26 May 2026 Doha US self-defence strikes on southern Iran while talks continue in Qatar; a tanker is hit by an explosion near Hormuz.
24 May 2026 Trump says a deal, including reopening the strait, is largely negotiated on day 84 of the war.
18 May 2026 Dubai A drone strikes near the UAE's nuclear power plant as both sides signal they are ready to resume the war.
17 May 2026 Beijing Trump returns from China with no breakthrough on Iran.
15 May 2026 A ship is seized and another sunk near the strait.
13 May 2026 The war hits home: US inflation surges to 3.8 percent on fuel prices.
12 May 2026 Trump says the ceasefire is on massive life support.
11 May 2026 Iran responds to the US proposal to end the war; Trump rejects it as totally unacceptable. Oil jumps.
8 May 2026 The US hits Iranian military facilities after attacks on three Navy ships; Trump calls it a love tap.
6 May 2026 Project Freedom is paused after two days. The UAE is attacked for a second day.
5 May 2026 Dubai US destroyers come under sustained attack; the US strikes Iranian fast boats; Iran attacks a UAE oil facility.
4 May 2026 Trump announces Project Freedom: the US will guide stranded ships out of the strait.
2 May 2026 Washington Trump tells Congress the war has been terminated and needs no approval under the 60-day deadline.
30 April 2026 Washington Hegseth clashes with lawmakers in a nearly six-hour hearing on the war.
28 April 2026 Iran offers to reopen the strait if the US lifts its blockade and ends the war.
26 April 2026 Trump cancels Witkoff and Kushner's trip to Pakistan as Iran's foreign minister leaves Islamabad.
23 April 2026 Iran fires on three ships and seizes two. Trump says the Navy will shoot and kill boats laying mines.
22 April 2026 Trump extends the ceasefire until negotiations conclude; the blockade remains.
20 April 2026 The US Navy fires on and seizes an Iranian-flagged ship near Hormuz.
19 April 2026 Iran closes the strait again over the blockade and fires on ships.
18 April 2026 Iran reopens the strait but the US blockade stays. The UK and France are to lead a defensive mission in Hormuz.
14 April 2026 The blockade begins. Vance accuses Iran of economic terrorism in the strait.
13 April 2026 Talks end without agreement. The US announces a blockade of Iranian ports; oil jumps back above $100.
12 April 2026 Islamabad Marathon talks in Islamabad run into the early hours.
9 April 2026 Islamabad Vance is to lead the US team in talks in Pakistan. The ceasefire unsettles Iran's hardliners.
8 April 2026 The US and Iran agree a two-week ceasefire; Iran is to reopen the strait. Russia and China veto a UN resolution on Hormuz.
7 April 2026 Trump threatens to take out Iran in one night if there is no deal by his deadline. Iran's ten-point proposal demands an end to attacks and sanctions.
6 April 2026 The downed airman is rescued from a cave in remote Iran after 48 hours.
4 April 2026 Iran says it downed two US jets; the search for a missing pilot begins.
3 April 2026 London The UK gathers more than 40 countries to press Iran to reopen Hormuz. Trump: bridges next, then power plants.
1 April 2026 US gas hits $4 a gallon. Trump says securing the strait is not for the US to do.
30 March 2026 One month in. Trump considers seizing Kharg Island; Pakistan offers to host talks; an Iranian attack hits a Kuwaiti power and desalination plant; the Pentagon readies for ground operations.
28 March 2026 Israel strikes nuclear sites. Rubio says the US expects to finish the war in the next couple of weeks.
27 March 2026 The pause on energy strikes is extended ten days. Israel says it has killed Iran's navy chief overseeing the blockade.
26 March 2026 Iran rejects the US ceasefire plan and issues its own demands.
24 March 2026 Trump pauses the strikes on power plants and says talks are under way; Iran denies any talks. Stocks rally.
23 March 2026 Iran threatens to close the strait completely and hit the region's energy sites. Asian markets plunge.
22 March 2026 A 48-hour ultimatum: open the Strait of Hormuz or Iran's power plants will be obliterated. An Iranian strike lands near an Israeli nuclear research centre.
21 March 2026 Trump says the US is considering winding down the war. Sanctions on some Iranian oil are lifted as fuel prices soar.
20 March 2026 Netanyahu says Israel acted alone on the gas field. Brent briefly tops $119; European nations and Japan agree to join efforts to open Hormuz.
19 March 2026 Strikes hit the world's largest natural gas field. Oil crosses $110; the Senate sinks a war powers resolution; US intelligence says the regime is intact but degraded.
18 March 2026 Israel kills two of Iran's top officials and Iran answers with a missile barrage. A senior US counterterrorism official resigns, saying Iran posed no imminent threat.
16 March 2026 Trump demands about seven countries join a coalition to police the strait; the response is muted. Oil passes $105.
15 March 2026 Isfahan The US tells its citizens to leave Iraq. A strike kills 15 at an Isfahan factory; Trump urges allies to send warships to Hormuz.
14 March 2026 Kharg Island The US bombs military sites on Kharg Island, the hub of Iran's oil exports.
13 March 2026 Mojtaba Khamenei's first public remarks: keep fighting. Iran says the strait is blocked; oil at $100 and stocks sink worldwide.
12 March 2026 Strait of Hormuz Countries agree a historic emergency oil release. Ships are hit in the Strait of Hormuz; Iran says not a litre of oil will pass.
11 March 2026 The US says it has hit 16 Iranian mine-laying ships. Tomahawk fragments are photographed at the school strike site.
9 March 2026 Mojtaba Khamenei is named supreme leader to succeed his father. Oil passes $100 for the first time in four years.
8 March 2026 Kuwait Trump attends the dignified transfer of the six US troops killed in Kuwait. Israel strikes oil refineries outside Tehran; Iran's de facto leader says it will not surrender.
7 March 2026 US oil nears $100 a barrel. Israeli jets hit the leaders' bunker; Trump demands unconditional surrender; airspace closures squeeze flight paths.
5 March 2026 All six US troops killed are identified. Iran postpones Khamenei's funeral as the bombardment continues.
4 March 2026 The first American soldiers killed are identified. Israel steps up strikes on Tehran; funerals are held after a strike on an Iranian school; Khamenei's son emerges as the leading successor.
3 March 2026 Strait of Hormuz The war widens. Trump says strikes could last weeks; an Iranian official pledges attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz; Spain blocks US use of its bases.
2 March 2026 Retaliation continues on day two. Trump says there will likely be more US deaths and strikes continue until all goals are achieved; months of planning behind the mission to kill Khamenei is reported.
1 March 2026 Tehran US and Israeli strikes across Iran. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is killed; Iran launches retaliatory strikes across the region.
23 February 2026 Before the war: the New York Times reports Iran preparing for war and planning for survival.