US & ‘Israel’ at war with Iran | Day 34 coverage
The 2026 Iran War began on February 28 when the United States and ‘Israel’ launched an operation dubbed Epic Fury by the US and Lion's Roar by ‘Israel’, unleashing nearly 900 airstrikes in 12 hours on Iranian missile systems, air defenses, nuclear facilities, military bases, and leadership targets.
Yemen’s Houthi movement entered the war early, launching missile and drone attacks toward ‘Israel’ and expanding the war beyond the Gulf and Levant theaters.
This direct assault followed years of shadow war, including the first-ever Iran-‘Israel’ missile exchanges in April and October 2024 and a limited 12-day war in June 2025 that damaged Tehran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and dozens of top officials were killed in the opening salvo, while a US Tomahawk strike on a school adjacent to a naval base near Bandar Abbas killed about 170 civilians, mostly children.
Iran responded within hours by firing hundreds of ballistic missiles and launching thousands of drones at ‘Israel’, US bases in the Gulf, and targets in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait.
Tehran restricted passage through the Strait of Hormuz—through which 20% of global oil flows—disrupting shipping and spiking oil prices.
The retaliation reignited fighting with Hezbollah in Lebanon, prompting ‘Israeli’ strikes there and spreading the conflict regionally while hitting civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, airports, and heritage sites.
Over the next three weeks, US-‘Israeli’ forces conducted sustained air campaigns that destroyed much of Iran’s air-defense network, missile production sites and navy assets.
Iran appointed Mojtaba Khamenei as the new supreme leader, but pragmatic senior official Ali Larijani was assassinated in an ‘Israeli’ strike on March 17.
More than 80,000 civilian sites were hit, including 260 medical facilities and UNESCO-listed buildings, causing widespread blackouts, fuel shortages, toxic pollution, and over 2,000 total deaths across Iran, ‘Israel’, Lebanon, and Gulf states.
The war remained active in its fifth week with ongoing US-‘Israeli’ airstrikes on remaining Iranian targets and Iranian retaliatory barrages, including recent cluster-munition attacks on ‘Israel’ and a failed long-range missile attempt at Diego Garcia.
Trump has threatened to destroy Iran’s power plants unless the Strait of Hormuz reopens fully but has signaled possible winding down or deals, which Tehran denies pursuing.
Multiple ‘Israelis’ injured in Bnei Brak from Iranian cluster munitions
The ‘Israeli’ Broadcasting Authority said that four ‘Israelis’ were injured in Bnei Brak, the district of Tel Aviv – after the ‘Israeli’ military radio said that cluster munitions from an Iranian missile hit 11 different sites.
Hebrew Channel 12 said that damage was reported to the water lines and several vehicles in Bnei Brak.
Hebrew media: Iran fires missiles at central ‘Israel’ as Hezbollah strikes north
Hebrew media: Iran fires missiles at central ‘Israel’ as Hezbollah strikes north
Iran fires ballistic missile wave at ‘Israel’: military
The ‘Israeli’ military said Thursday morning it identified missiles launched from Iran.
“Defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat,” it said in a statement.
UAE willing to join military coalition against Iran over Hormuz: report
A report by the Wall Street Journal, citing officials, says that the United Arab Emirates is preparing to help the United States and other allies to force open the Strait of Hormuz.
The report, citing Arab officials, said the UAE is pushing for a United Nations Security Council resolution that would authorize such action.
The UAE, which has suffered the most of Iranian attacks on Gulf countries, which the Islamic Republic says is in retaliation for the US-‘Israeli’ strikes, is urging the US, Europe, and Asia to form a coalition to confront Iran militarily to open the strait.
The UAE official, according to the Wall Street Journal, said the country was “actively reviewing how it could play a military role in securing the strait, including efforts to help clear it of mines and other support services.”
The UAE also said the US should occupy islands in the strategic waterway including Abu Musa, which has been held by Iran for a half-century and is claimed by the UAE, added the report, citing officials.
Iran says reviewing messages received from mediators
Iran is prepared to respond to “any form of aggression, including ground operations,” the Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said, cited by the Iranian state television.
The spokesperson added that Tehran has been receiving messages through mediators and is currently reviewing them, without providing further details on their content or origin.
Addressing concerns over nuclear materials, the official stated that enriched substances remain “under the rubble of facilities” and have not been transferred or hidden.
