The Conflict Between the United States and Iran

Relations between the US and Iran escalated in 2020 over the killing of Qasem Soleimani. 

The commander of the Quds Force special units of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was killed at Baghdad airport on the night of January 3, 2020, when the US Air Force struck him. 

In response, on January 8, 2020, Iran struck US military facilities in Iraq.

The US imposed sanctions on Iran for financing terrorism, human rights violations and refusal to fulfil international obligations regarding its nuclear program.

During Donald Trump's second presidential term, on June 22, 2025, the US struck three nuclear facilities in Iran – Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan. After that, Iran attacked US air bases in Qatar and Iraq. 

Donald Trump on June 24, 2025, announced that the ceasefire between Israel and Iran had taken effect. Jerusalem agreed to this. 

Why a new US-Israel – Iran war broke out

The US and Israel launched an operation against Iran on February 28, 2026. Donald Trump stated that Iran could have obtained nuclear weapons within two weeks, and then the operation would have been impossible.

The United States and Jerusalem eliminated Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. His son Mojtaba Khamenei became the new president of Iran.

How Trump is trying to achieve a truce

From March to June 2026, Donald Trump said at least 37 times that a deal with Iran was close or that they wanted to conclude one. 

At the end of May 2026, the US stated that the framework agreement between the US and Iran was 95 percent ready. In particular, issues concerning Tehran's nuclear arsenal and the Strait of Hormuz remained to be agreed.

The media wrote on May 28, 2026, that the US and Iran had reached a ceasefire agreement. However, already on June 1 they exchanged strikes on bases. 

Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signed a memorandum of understanding on June 18, 2026. 

Read the latest news about the conflict in the Middle East.