A combined United States and Israeli military campaign against Iran entered its seventh day on Friday, marked by an air assault of a pace and intensity that war monitors say is unmatched in recent history and retaliatory Iranian strikes that have crippled aviation across the Persian Gulf. Iranian officials report that at least 1,332 people have been killed across the country, with thousands more injured since the offensive began.
The operation, codenamed Epic Fury, has struck approximately 4,000 targets across Iran in its first four days, according to a report from the monitoring group Airwars. The UK-based nonprofit, which tracks civilian harm in conflict zones, stated that the initial phase of the campaign hit “significantly more targets per day than any campaign in recent decades,” outpacing the early stages of both the 2023 war in Gaza and the U.S.-led coalition’s campaign against ISIS in 2014. In its first 100 hours, the US and Israel declared more targets hit in Iran than in the first six months of the war against ISIS.
Washington and Jerusalem have signaled their intention to continue the offensive. U.S. President Donald Trump stated on his Truth Social platform that there would be “no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!” Similarly, the Israeli army’s chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, announced on Thursday that Israel would intensify its attacks, stating the “next phase” of the war “will focus on undermining the Iranian regime.”
Iran has responded with missile and drone attacks on targets across the wider Middle East. These strikes have killed at least six U.S. service members, 11 people in Israel, and three in the United Arab Emirates, according to reports. In a significant naval escalation, the United States sank Iran's destroyer, the IRIS Dena, off the coast of Galle, Sri Lanka, killing more than 100 sailors.
The retaliatory barrages have caused severe disruptions to regional and international air travel. Qatar, Kuwait, and the UAE have all been struck by Iranian projectiles, forcing widespread airspace closures. Qatar partially reopened its airspace on Friday for limited evacuation and cargo flights after grounding all traffic earlier in the week. Major international hubs, including Dubai International Airport and Abu Dhabi’s Zayed International Airport, are operating at limited capacity, while Kuwait’s main airport sustained physical damage. The analytics firm Cirium estimates that 23,000 flights have been cancelled across the region since the conflict began.
As the conflict moves into its second week, the strategic focus remains on the escalating military actions and their cascading effects on regional stability. The stated U.S. and Israeli objectives suggest a prolonged campaign, while the disruption to global aviation highlights the immediate economic and logistical consequences of the widening war. Future developments will likely depend on Iran’s capacity to sustain its retaliatory strikes and the effectiveness of air defenses in neighboring Gulf states.
Mohsin Rana
