Operation Epic Fury Enters Its Fifth Week With No End in Sight
The Iran war exploded across new fronts on Day 35 as Iranian drones set a major Kuwaiti oil refinery ablaze, Tehran claimed strikes on American tech giants’ data centers in the Gulf, and the U.S. military stepped up its own devastating campaign against Iranian infrastructure — all just hours after President Trump told the nation the war was “nearing completion.”
It was a day that laid bare the widening gap between Washington’s victory narrative and the brutal reality unfolding across the Middle East.
Kuwait’s Mina al-Ahmadi Refinery Hit by Iranian Drones
In the early hours of Friday, April 3, Iranian drones slammed into Kuwait’s Mina al-Ahmadi oil refinery — one of the largest refining complexes in the world — setting multiple processing units on fire. The Kuwait Petroleum Corporation confirmed the strike, though it reported no casualties or immediate environmental damage.
The attack marks the latest in a string of Iranian strikes on Gulf state energy infrastructure that has rattled global markets and sent oil prices above $108 per barrel. Kuwait had already declared force majeure on oil exports after earlier attacks damaged its airport fuel tanks and a power and desalination plant that killed at least one worker.
Iran has made it clear: any nation providing basing or overflight rights to the U.S. and Israeli militaries is a legitimate target.
Iran Claims Strikes on Oracle and Amazon Data Centers
In a stunning escalation that opened an entirely new dimension of the conflict, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed Thursday that it struck an Oracle data center in Dubai and an Amazon Web Services cloud facility in Bahrain.
Dubai’s government swiftly denied that any Oracle facility had been hit, but the claims alone sent shockwaves through the global tech industry. The attacks follow an earlier incident on March 3 when Iranian drone strikes disrupted power to AWS cloud infrastructure in the UAE.
The IRGC has explicitly threatened to target American technology companies operating in the Gulf region if the war continues to escalate. Apple, Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Nvidia have all been named. Several U.S. firms have already asked employees at Gulf offices to work remotely or limit travel.
Trump’s National Address: ‘Nearing Completion’ — Then More Threats
President Trump’s first primetime address on the war, delivered Wednesday evening, was meant to reassure Americans that Operation Epic Fury was on track. In a 19-minute speech from the White House, Trump declared:
“Tonight, I’m pleased to say that these core strategic objectives are nearing completion. We are going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks.”
The address, however, was immediately undercut by events on the ground. Within hours of Trump’s speech, Iran launched over 20 missiles at Israel — wounding 14 people near Tel Aviv, including an 11-year-old girl — and fired projectiles at targets across the UAE, Qatar, and Kuwait.
Trump then escalated his own rhetoric, threatening to bomb Iran “back to the Stone Ages” and specifically targeting bridges and power plants. The U.S. subsequently struck Iran’s largest highway bridge near Tehran, killing at least eight people and injuring dozens according to Iranian state media.
A leading public health research institution in Tehran was also destroyed in the strikes, drawing international condemnation.
US Army Chief Fired Amid Wartime Turmoil
Adding to the chaos, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ousted Army Chief of Staff General Randy George — making him the first sitting Army chief to be removed during an active combat operation in modern American history.
The move sent shockwaves through the Pentagon and drew sharp criticism from military analysts who warned that removing senior military leadership during wartime is extraordinarily rare and potentially destabilizing. French President Emmanuel Macron publicly urged Trump to “be serious” about the conflict.
Iran’s Strait of Hormuz Stranglehold Tightens
Perhaps the most consequential development of the war remains Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz — the narrow waterway through which roughly 20% of the world’s oil supply passes. Despite a month of bombardment, Iran’s ability to disrupt shipping in the strait remains largely intact.
A Bahrain-sponsored UN Security Council resolution calling for multinational naval action to reopen the strait faced veto threats and stiff opposition. Analysts at the Institute for the Study of War noted that Iran could continue leveraging its “legal-security dominance” over the strait long after the war ends — a sobering assessment that suggests the global energy crisis may outlast the fighting.
Oil prices have surged, fuel shortages are spreading across Asia and Europe, and Australia has begun canceling Easter travel as citizens worry about fuel availability.
The War by the Numbers: Day 35
As of Day 35, the scale of the conflict is staggering:
- Over 12,300 targets struck by U.S. and Israeli forces inside Iran
- More than 2,000 Iranians killed, including Supreme Leader Khamenei and top officials, plus at least 216 children, per Iranian authorities
- 1,345 killed in Lebanon since March 2 as the war spilled into the 2026 Lebanon conflict
- IAF struck 400+ Iranian targets in just two days (April 1-2), including 15 weapons production facilities
- Historic first: An Israeli F-35I “Adir” shot down a Russian-made Iranian Yak-130 fighter jet over Tehran — the first stealth-vs-manned fighter aerial kill in history
- A U.S. submarine sank the Iranian warship IRIS Dena off Sri Lanka, killing 87 crew
- Half of Iran’s missile launchers reportedly remain intact despite weeks of bombing
- Iran claims it shot down a U.S. F-35 over central Iran — unverified by the Pentagon
Houthis Enter the Fight
Yemen’s Houthi rebels — Iran’s most capable proxy force — launched their fourth barrage of ballistic missiles targeting southern Israel on April 1. The Houthi intervention adds another layer of complexity to a conflict that has already drawn in Lebanon’s Hezbollah, and threatens to pull in even more regional actors.
What Comes Next?
Trump’s promise that the war will conclude in “two to three weeks” is met with deep skepticism by military analysts. Iran has rejected a 15-point U.S. peace plan and insisted that any ceasefire must include Lebanon. Former Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif has publicly urged Tehran to “declare victory and make a deal” — a sign that internal debate about the war’s direction is intensifying.
Meanwhile, the war’s economic fallout continues to cascade. The Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed. Gulf energy infrastructure is under constant threat. Global oil markets are in turmoil.
One thing is clear on Day 35: the gap between political declarations of victory and military reality on the ground has never been wider. And the Middle East is bracing for what comes next.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as the situation evolves.