In the first wave of attacks, at least 175 people—mostly children—were killed when a school was struck, according to multiple reports. Iranian forces responded with missiles and armed drones against Israel and US military facilities in Gulf Cooperation Council countries, causing serious damage in Israel and killing and injuring scores of people. Iran also struck civilian infrastructure in the Gulf, including ports and airports, and the hostilities forced the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Hours after the election of Mojtaba Khamenei as the new leader, Iran launched a large-scale ballistic missile attack and struck Gulf countries again with drones, while an alert was sounded in Israel due to an incoming Iranian ballistic missile attack, the IDF said. The war is illegal under international law because it violates the UN Charter's prohibition on the use of force, according to legal experts. The US did not have UN Security Council authorization for the attack, and it cannot be justified as self-defense because Iran had not attacked the US or posed an imminent threat.
Under US law, the president does not have the authority to start a war without congressional approval, and Trump did not seek it. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that the US knew there would be an Israeli action and that a preemptive strike was necessary to avoid greater losses. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt denied that Rubio claimed Israel dragged Trump into war.
During a meeting with the German Chancellor, Trump said he believed Iran was preparing to attack first and that he may have forced Israel to move. US officials clarified that Trump approved the strikes because Tehran was not negotiating seriously on a deal to limit its nuclear program and the US had to neutralize Iran's missile capabilities. Iran has no long-range missiles that can reach the US and is at least a decade away from producing them, according to a 2025 Defense Intelligence Agency assessment.
Multiple reports indicate Iran has no program to produce nuclear weapons and no capacity to do so soon, as US bombing in 2025 destroyed most of its nuclear capacity. Before the attack, Iran indicated willingness to sign a comprehensive nuclear nonproliferation agreement, but the Trump administration refused to negotiate. However, Iran and the US began nuclear negotiations on April 12, 2025, following a letter from Trump to Khamenei, and Trump set a two-month deadline for an agreement.
On May 27, Trump said both sides were close to finalizing an agreement with strong inspections, but on May 31, the IAEA reported Iran had amassed a record amount of military-grade enriched uranium, and on June 12, the IAEA declared Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations. On June 13, Israel launched large-scale attacks on Iran targeting top military leaders and nuclear scientists, and following the attacks, Iran pulled out and suspended nuclear talks indefinitely. Trump has repeatedly claimed without evidence that Tehran began rebuilding the nuclear program that he claimed was eliminated by US attacks in June of last year.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spent decades trying to persuade US presidents to join a war against Iran, and he was instrumental in convincing Trump that war with Iran was the only solution and would be easily won, according to extensive US press reporting. Trump was emboldened by a successful US operation to kidnap Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January, seeing it as a model for short-term air and sea wars, said Hilmar Mjelde, quoted by NRK. Netanyahu used the Venezuela example to persuade Trump to attack Iran, according to Alon Pinkas, a former Israeli diplomat.
A two-week ceasefire between Tehran and Washington is in place, allowing oil prices to drop from record highs above $150 per barrel. The war is the most unpopular US war in a century, and cracks are showing over what was agreed in the ceasefire, with accusations of violations. Trump announced an extension of the ceasefire, with the timeline dictated by him, according to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Iran did not respond to a US list of points for talks, leaving the US on read, CNN's Kaitlin Collins reported. Trump claimed Iran agreed to stop executing eight women protesters, but Iran denied this. Trump privately wants the war to end within weeks and stick to a 4-6 week timeline, sources told the Wall Street Journal, and he postponed a trip to China due to the war.
Trump called for a coalition to secure the Strait of Hormuz, but many nations, including UK PM Keir Starmer, declined. In a primetime address, Trump said US military objectives in Iran are nearing completion and the end is very close. A CNN/SSRS poll found only one-third of Americans approve of the Iran war and 67% say Trump lacks a clear plan.
Israel continues to hammer strategic points in Iran and Hezbollah positions in Beirut, and the IDF announced that the Israeli Air Force completed another wave of attacks against dozens of Iranian regime infrastructures, including the central headquarters of the Revolutionary Guards. The IRGC has filled the political vacuum in Iran after senior leaders were killed, and it criticized Foreign Minister Araghchi's announcement on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, indicating internal rifts, according to Tasnim news agency and the Institute for the Study of War. Trump said he neither agreed with nor approved of Israel's strike on Iran's South Pars gas field, but Netanyahu said Israel acted alone on the gas field strike and agreed to hold off further such attacks.
However, two people familiar with the matter said the US was made aware of Israel's plan ahead of time. Trump claimed the US and Israel cut out the cancer of Iran's nuclear program, and he described the attack as a short excursion, stating that they will not stop until the total defeat of the enemy. He said they took a little excursion to get rid of some evil and that it will be a short-term excursion.
Trump claimed he is counting minutes for Iran's surrender and that they have been defeated decisively and completely. He called Operation Epic Fury one of the most complex and amazing operations ever conducted and said he likes the name even more than Midnight Hammer, when they destroyed Iran's nuclear capability. Trump said it was a great day because if they hadn't done this, Iran would have had a nuclear weapon within two weeks.
He also claimed that if the B-2 attack hadn't happened, Israel would have been wiped out. Trump said the world respects the US more than ever, praising the military as an army like no other. Vladimir Putin had a long telephone conversation with Donald Trump, which the Kremlin described as frank and constructive and lasting one hour, discussing the wars in Iran and Ukraine.
According to Kremlin diplomatic adviser Yuri Ushakov, the discussion focused on the situation in Iran and Ukraine.