With the joint bombing of Iran with Israel, the United States may have begun a war without an endgame. Let’s help you make sense of the chaos.
The USS Delbert D. Black fires a Tomahawk missile against Iran during Operation Epic Fury, 2 March 2026. (Photo courtesy the U.S. Department of Defense)
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It is often said that wars are easier to start than end. That might well be true for the war that U.S. President Donald Trump has launched against the nation of Iran, in conjunction with the state of Israel.
In a joint military operation with the United States that began 28 February 2026, Israeli airstrikes killed Ali Khamenei — the Supreme Leader of Iran, who had controlled the country for 36 years. The United States followed with large-scale attacks by bombers, drones and fighter jets.
According to the U.S. and Israeli governments, the attacks were necessary to stop Iran from developing its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
Previously in 2025, the U.S. military had already bombed three Iranian nuclear facilities.
Just prior to the latest bombing, the nation of Oman had been moderating peace talks between the United States and Iran over the nuclear question, but by late February the parties had failed to agree on halting Iran’s nuclear project.
The aftermath of political assassination
Trump has not set a definitive limit to when this armed conflict will end, saying only that the fighting could last three or four weeks.
Nor did he say how he viewed the future for Iran. Even before the bombings the country was in chaos. Beginning in December 2025, millions of people in Iran had taken to the streets in protest against the oppressive rule of the government. It is believed that the Iranian government killed thousands during these protests.
Trump has said that he is giving the Iranian people the chance to take over their government. But on 5 March he told the Reuters news agency: “We’re going to have to choose that person along with Iran. We’re going to have to choose that person.”
He also told Reuters that he would consider it unacceptable for Iran to choose Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of Ali Khamenei. He is believed to be even more hard line than his father. Three days later Iran did just that, announcing that Mojtaba Khamenei would take over as supreme leader.
It is unclear whether there is any organized opposition capable of countering the ruling government. Regime change, especially through aerial bombing, has not been shown to be a guarantee for democratization.
Consider neighboring Iraq, where the death of dictator Saddam Hussein in 2006 by U.S. forces failed to bring peace and democracy. Or take the killing of dictator Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi by NATO-based forces in 2011, which was followed by a six-year civil war there.
A complex history
To understand the current violence in the Middle East, one needs to recognize the complex mixture of political, historical, economic and religious factors behind the deep hostility between the United States and Iran.
Before 1979, Iran was ruled by the Shah, a title in that country similar to a king, and he ruled with the backing of the U.S. government. That ended when students took over the U.S. embassy and held 52 American hostage for more than a year. The revolutionary arm installed Ayotollah Khomeini as its supreme leader and created a theocracy — a government under which religion shapes the law.
In the Middle East there has been a long standing hostility between Iran, led by its Sh’ite Muslim government, and the Sunni Muslims that dominate in most of the other countries in the region. That explains, in part, the support for the U.S. and Israeli bombings by Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia.
“Death to Israel” has been part of Iranian discourse for years. Beyond mere rhetoric, Iran has used various proxy groups such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza and the Houthis in Yemen to destabilize the region.
For Israel, Iran has been “an existential threat” since the overthrow of the Shah in 1979. Israelis will never forget that Hamas killed over 1,200 people at a music festival in October 2023.
A web of hostility
So beyond the mere fighting is the importance of Iran’s role as the leader of an “Axis of Resistance” against the West and its allies as described by many Western analysts. The Islamic Republic has been seen as a thorn in the side of many countries.
Iran has had no diplomatic relations with the United States since 1979; Switzerland acts as a “good office” in formal diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Was the initial bombing legal? According to the United Nations Charter, the only use of force may be in self-defense under imminent threat and with the authorization of the United Nations.
The use of force against any state’s territorial integrity or political independence is prohibited by international law. The United States and Israel have said that Iran’s development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles was an imminent threat.
Most other countries and international legal scholars question this reasoning. French President Emmanuel Macron has stated that the 28 February bombings were outside international law.
Disdain for international law
In an official written statement on 28 February 2026, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the military escalation in the Middle East and emphasised the importance of international law and respect for the U.N. Charter. He noted that the current violations of the Charter “undermine international peace and security.”
Domestically in the United States, the president cannot use force externally without the approval of Congress under the 1973 War Powers Act. This is also being debated in the United States in terms of the exact nature of the imminent threat and why Congress was not alerted before the attacks.
The conflict is already expanding. Once the United States and Israel bombed Iran and killed the Supreme Leader, other countries became involved. In retaliation for the bombing, Iran began attacking U.S. military bases in the Middle East region as well as other bases in countries allied with the U.S., such as the British Royal Air Force base in Cyprus.
Because of that, certain countries, like the United Kingdom, have now allowed the United States to use its bases to attack Iran, all in the name of defensive security.
In addition, U.S. embassies have been bombed in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, causing those countries, all majority Sunni Muslim, to become involved in the evolving regional conflict. So there is an element of intra-Muslim tension playing out as a religious factor.
A war without limits
Finally, there are economic repercussions. Any conflict in the Middle East has consequences for gas and oil consumption. Specifically, Iran is able to control the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly 20% of the world’s oil and gas are transported. On 2 March, the Iranian government vowed to sink any ship passing through the Strait.
Without that channel, tankers will have to travel longer distances to the Suez Canal causing rising gas and oil prices throughout the world.
Will this become a world war? For the moment, the conflict has been limited to the Middle East. Major powers such as China and Russia have not intervened, nor has Turkey.
But regional conflicts can expand beyond anyone’s control. World War I, after all, started with the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria on 28 June 1914 in Sarajevo.
Because of a chain of national alliances, the major powers all felt compelled to join one side or the other including the German Empire, France, the British Empire, the Russian Empire and ultimately, the United States.
President Trump and top U.S. officials have been asked on several occasions when the war will end. Trump has said “Four or five weeks.” He also said it could last “far longer until all our objectives are achieved.”
The current conflict in the Middle East show no signs of abating, and the specific objectives of the United States and Israel remain unclear. This war does seem to be easier to start than end, as it appears to be spreading geographically and in intensity.
Questions to consider:
1. What primary objective did the United States have in bombing Iran?
2. How might international law apply to the bombing of Iran by the United States and Israel?
3. Explain why a powerful nation should or should not be allowed to kill off or remove a leader of another nation it sees as a threat.
Daniel Warner earned a PhD in Political Science from the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva, where he was Deputy to the Director for many years as well as founder and director of several programs focusing on international organizations. He has lectured and taught internationally and is a frequent contributor to international media. He has served as an advisor to the UNHCR, ILO and NATO, and has been a consultant to the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defense of Switzerland as well as in the private sector.