The Iran Energy Crisis
Iran has responded to U.S. and Israeli attacks by targeting the oil-rich Gulf states. A prolonged blockade of the Strait of Hormuz threatens severe political and economic consequences for the world.
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On February 28, 2026, the militaries of the United States and Israel jointly launched airstrikes on the Islamic Republic of Iran in an apparent surprise attack that resulted in the deaths of a number of top Iranian government and military leaders, including the defense minister, chief of the general staff of the armed forces, and commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Most notably, the strikes also killed the 86-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Shia Muslim cleric who served as Supreme Leader of Iran’s revolutionary and theocratic system of government from 1989 until his death. The U.S. and Israel have continued extensively bombing both military and civilian sites in Iran, with shifting public justifications ranging from regime change in Iran to more modest goals revolving around degrading Iran’s military capabilities or nuclear program.