Mapping the crisis in Iran

The United States and Israel launched their most ambitious attacks on Iran in decades on Saturday in an operation that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The biggest foreign-policy gamble of U.S. President Donald Trump’s presidency comes after he campaigned for reelection as a “peace president” and after saying he preferred a diplomatic solution to the standoff with Iran.

The United States unleashed an array of weaponry against Iranian targets on Saturday, including Tomahawk cruise missiles, stealth fighters, and for the first time in combat, low-cost one-way attack drones modelled after Iranian designs.

Iran has called the strikes unprovoked and illegal and responded with missiles fired at Israel and at least seven other countries, including Gulf states that host U.S. bases.

Edited by

Jon McClure