Overview
- President Trump publicly distanced the U.S. from an Israeli strike on Iran’s South Pars gas field and signaled energy sites should be off‑limits absent further Iranian attacks on allied facilities.
- Israeli officials say their campaign targets western and northern Iran and senior officials, while the U.S. focuses on the east and south, including threats around the Strait of Hormuz.
- Israel credits recent operations with killing senior Iranian leaders, including Ali Larijani and Esmail Khatib, yet U.S. intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard told Congress that Iran’s government remains intact and capable.
- Tehran’s surviving leadership vows to keep fighting and is pressing for a new postwar protocol for the Strait of Hormuz that would formalize tighter conditions on safe passage.
- Key U.S. allies have declined requests to help reopen Hormuz, Gulf states face mounting risk to energy infrastructure, and oil prices and political costs for the White House continue to rise.