More than 60 hours into a sustained US‑ and Israeli‑led campaign against Iran, Tehran was struck again in the small hours of March 3 as explosions and the sound of warplanes reverberated across the capital. State media and on‑the‑ground correspondents reported strikes on multiple sites, including broadcasting facilities for a second consecutive night, while Iran’s military and security installations were also reported to have been hit during a day of intense aerial activity.
The assault is part of a broader operation that began at the end of February. Israel announced it had conducted multiple strikes on February 2 that targeted areas in central Tehran and other strategic sites, saying it had mobilized roughly 110,000 reservists and used about 2,500 munitions in an effort it described as having “destroyed” hundreds of Iranian targets. The United States says its forces have struck roughly 1,250 targets inside Iran since the campaign began and that six American service members have been killed. US and Israeli officials have framed the strikes as aimed at degrading Iran’s missile capability and preventing nuclear advancement.
Iran has responded with both symbolic and kinetic measures. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps fired ballistic missiles — using a system described as the Khoramshahr‑4 — that Tehran said targeted Israeli government and military sites in Tel Aviv, Haifa and East Jerusalem. Iran also reported drone and naval‑unmanned strikes against the US base at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait and warned it would strike vessels attempting to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, which Tehran has effectively closed.
The confrontation has already reached critical economic choke points. Iran controls the Strait of Hormuz, through which a large share of the world’s seaborne oil passes, and several shipping companies including Maersk have suspended transit of crude, fuel and liquefied natural gas through the choke point. European natural gas benchmarks spiked more than 50% in a single session and Brent crude jumped as much as 13% to about $82 a barrel as markets priced the threat of prolonged disruption to energy flows.
Beyond the immediate kinetic exchange, the campaign risks drawing in proxies and widening the theatre. Iran has threatened long‑term conflict, and senior Iranian officials said the country is prepared for a protracted war. US leaders, including President Trump, have publicly set an objective of stopping Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and warned the campaign could continue for weeks — even as they leave open the possibility of a longer effort. The space for controlled escalation is small: further strikes on nuclear infrastructure would provoke intense international scrutiny, attacks on shipping could trigger coalition responses, and any significant passage of forces or casualties could compel direct intervention by additional regional actors.
For an international audience, the significance is twofold. First, the risk of an escalation into a broader regional war is now non‑trivial; Tehran’s control of the Strait of Hormuz and its array of missile and naval assets give it meaningful leverage. Second, the campaign has immediate economic consequences, tightening energy markets and elevating volatility in financial markets. Diplomacy and crisis management efforts will be tested in coming days as capitals weigh how to deter further Iranian action while avoiding a wider conflict whose costs would extend far beyond the Middle East.