In Photos: The Iran-Israel-US war’s defining moments so far

At least 1,230 dead in Iran, 11 in Israel, 6 US soldiers killed, and 9 dead across Gulf states, with hundreds more wounded in the first week of the war in West Asia

Mar 06, 2026, 12:58 IST3 min

1/12

Feb 26 — Nuclear talks collapse in Geneva: A third round of indirect US-Iran talks in Geneva ended with the sides still far apart, and Trump’s 10-day deadline for a deal expiring. The failure of diplomacy removed the last obstacle to military action and gave both Washington and Jerusalem the green light to proceed with strikes that had been planned for weeks. Photo by Umman Foreign Ministry/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images

2/12

Feb 28 — Operations Roaring Lion & Epic Fury begin: Israel and the United States launched coordinated attacks on Iran, targeting its leadership, security forces, nuclear programme, and missile sites in Tehran, Isfahan, Qom, Karaj, and Kermanshah. A girls’ school in the Iranian city of Minab was also struck killing 160 students and wounding 95. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth says that the US is “investigating” the attack. Photo by US Central Command (CENTCOM) / AFP

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Feb 28 — Assassination of Supreme Leader Khamenei: The opening strikes destroyed the Leadership House compound and killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, along with Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran’s defence council, and several other senior Iranian officials. The killing of Khamenei essentially decapitated the Islamic Republic’s command structure.
Photo by Pleiades Neo (c) Airbus DS 2026/Handout via REUTERS

4/12

Mar 1 — Iran Launches Operation True Promise IV: Iran retaliated by launching dozens of drones and ballistic missiles across the Persian Gulf, targeting Israel and US military bases in Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. Iran’s sweeping regional counterattack transformed a bilateral strike into a full-blown multi-front war, threatening Gulf stability and global energy markets simultaneously. Photo by Ryan Lim / AFP

5/12

Mar 2 — Kuwait friendly fire incident & US Embassies hit: A Kuwaiti F/A-18 shot down three American F-15E jets in a friendly fire incident, though all the crew have survived. The US Missions in Kuwait City and Saudi Arabia were struck by Iranian missiles, prompting their closure. Kuwait has intercepted 178 ballistic missiles and 384 drones since the war began. Photo by Social Media/via REUTERS

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Mar 2 — War spreads to Lebanon; Beirut struck: Hezbollah fired rockets at a military base in northern Israel in revenge for Khamenei’s death, prompting a wave of Israeli strikes on Beirut and southern Lebanon. Lebanon’s Health Ministry reported 77 people killed and 527 injured in Israeli attacks this week. Photo by Ibrahim Amro / AFP

7/12

Mar 3 — Israel bombs Iran’s Assembly of Experts mid-session: Israel bombed Iran’s Assembly of Experts while they were convening to elect a new Supreme Leader. Striking the body responsible for choosing Khamenei’s successor was a deliberate attempt to prevent any orderly political transition inside Iran. Photo by Social Media/via REUTERS

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Mar 3 — UNESCO Heritage site struck: Iran’s Golestan Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the country’s oldest palace complex and the official residence of the kings of the Qajar dynasty, was damaged in the aftermath of a US-Israeli strike. Photo by Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu via Getty Images

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Mar 3 — Iran closes the Strait of Hormuz: Iran announced it was closing the Strait of Hormuz in direct retaliation for the opening strikes, cutting off a waterway through which roughly a fifth of the world’s oil supply transits daily. Photo by 2026 Planet Labs PBC / AFP

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Mar 4 — Rupee breaches Rs 92 for the first time: The rupee fell to a record low of Rs 92.03 against the US dollar, surpassing all previous record lows. Brent crude touched $83 per barrel. India, which imports nearly 80 percent of its oil, faced a vicious cycle of a stronger dollar, soaring crude import costs, and capital flight, all simultaneously squeezing the economy. Photo by Getty Images