As Operation Epic Fury enters its fourth day, the conflict between the United States, Israel, and Iran has escalated dramatically — with Israel revealing a strike on a covert underground nuclear weapons development site in Tehran, President Trump offering his most candid justification for war yet, and one of the world’s largest energy suppliers shutting down production entirely.
The developments mark a significant intensification of a war that has now spread across the entire Middle East, closing U.S. embassies, rattling global markets, and turning Tehran into what residents describe as a ghost town.
Israel Reveals Strike on Secret Nuclear Weapons Site
In what may be the most strategically significant strike of the war so far, the Israel Defense Forces announced Tuesday that they hit a covert underground compound in northeastern Tehran known as the “Minzadehei” site — a facility the IDF says Iranian scientists were using to develop “necessary capabilities” for nuclear weapons.
According to the IDF, the compound was operated by Iran’s Defense Ministry and housed a group of nuclear scientists working on weapons components. Israeli military officials said the scientists relocated to the Minzadehei facility after Israel damaged key Iranian nuclear sites during Operation Rising Lion in June 2025.
The strike represents a direct blow to Iran’s nuclear ambitions — one of the four stated objectives of the U.S.-Israeli military campaign. Iran has maintained that its nuclear program is peaceful and says it has not enriched uranium since June, though Western intelligence agencies have long disputed those claims.
The IDF also confirmed strikes on Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB and an area surrounding Tehran’s Mehrabad airport. The presidential office compound in Tehran was also targeted in what Israel described as attacks on Iran’s “leadership compound.”
Trump: ‘I Had a Feeling’ Iran Would Attack
President Trump on Tuesday offered his most candid — and controversial — justification for launching the war, telling reporters at the White House that he ordered the campaign because he had “a feeling” Iran would attack after negotiations over its nuclear program stalled.
The admission is likely to fuel intense debate in Congress, where lawmakers are already preparing a War Powers showdown over the president’s authority to wage an extended military campaign without congressional authorization.
Trump also laid out the war’s four objectives: destroying Iran’s missile capabilities, wiping out its navy, preventing it from obtaining a nuclear weapon, and ensuring it can no longer support allied groups like Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
When asked who he would like to see in charge of Iran after the war, Trump gave a blunt assessment: “Most of the people we had in mind are dead.”
The president said initial U.S. military projections were for the operation to last four to five weeks, but he was prepared “to go far longer than that.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio reinforced the message, telling reporters: “The hardest hits are yet to come from the U.S. military.”
U.S. Embassies Under Fire — Diplomatic Missions Close Across the Region
In a dramatic sign of the war’s widening scope, Iranian drones and missiles struck U.S. diplomatic facilities across the Gulf. The U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, was hit by two drones early Tuesday, causing what Saudi officials described as a “limited fire” and minor damage. This followed an earlier strike on the U.S. Embassy compound in Kuwait.
Smoke was also reported near the U.S. consulate in Dubai, with Secretary of State Rubio confirming that a parking lot was struck but all personnel were accounted for.
In response, Washington shut its embassies in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Lebanon, and ordered non-emergency government personnel and their families to leave the Middle East. The State Department urged all U.S. citizens to depart more than 14 countries in the region due to escalating safety risks.
Six U.S. service members have been killed in action since Operation Epic Fury began, according to U.S. Central Command.
QatarEnergy Halts LNG Production — Global Markets in Turmoil
In what could be the most far-reaching economic consequence of the conflict yet, QatarEnergy announced it would halt liquefied natural gas (LNG) production indefinitely after two of its facilities were struck. Qatar is one of the world’s top LNG suppliers, and the shutdown sent European wholesale natural gas prices surging by a staggering 40%.
Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura oil refinery — with a capacity of over half a million barrels of crude per day — also came under drone attack, though Saudi defenses reportedly intercepted the aircraft. Analysts warned the attack signaled that Gulf energy infrastructure was now “squarely in Iran’s sights.”
Global stock markets tumbled as the disruption to Middle East energy supplies threatened to reignite inflation. Oil prices gained 5% on Tuesday alone, while U.S. retail gasoline prices averaged $3.11 per gallon — a highly visible economic pressure point for American consumers.
The combined disruption to oil production, LNG exports, and shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has sent shockwaves through energy markets that analysts say could persist for weeks or months regardless of how quickly the military campaign concludes.
Israel Expands War to Lebanon — Al-Manar TV Studios Destroyed
The conflict opened a major new front on Tuesday as Israel launched what it described as a “wave of strikes” on Beirut, targeting Hezbollah command centers, weapons storage facilities, and media operations.
Among the targets was the headquarters of Hezbollah-owned Al-Manar television and Al-Nour radio station in Beirut’s southern suburbs. The strikes came after Hezbollah launched missiles and drones at northern Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in the opening hours of the war.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry reported at least 52 people killed and 154 wounded in overnight strikes in the Beirut suburbs and southern Lebanon. The IDF said it also killed the head of Hezbollah’s intelligence headquarters during the operations.
Lebanese leaders have begun publicly turning on Hezbollah, blaming the group for dragging their country into a devastating conflict. But analysts at CNN note that Hezbollah is “a shadow of the force it once was” — weakened by years of attrition and Israel’s 2024-2025 campaigns against the group.
Tehran: A Ghost Town Under Siege
As the bombing campaign intensifies, Tehran has become a city emptied by fear. Residents have fled in droves, and those who remain describe scenes of devastation.
“How long will this continue? Where are the shelters? Where is the government?” Bijan, a 32-year-old bank employee, told Reuters by phone from Tehran. “Every night my wife and I hide in the basement. The whole city is empty. There is smoke and blood everywhere.”
Firuzeh Seraj said she was afraid to take her 10-year-old daughter for dialysis treatment after a hospital in the capital was struck. “World, do you see? They are killing us. Hear our voice,” she said through tears.
Iran’s death toll has climbed to at least 787 people killed, according to the Iranian Red Crescent. Hengaw, a Kurdish human rights organization, estimated that 1,300 members of Iran’s military forces have been killed in the strikes. The IRGC’s Malek-Ashtar building in Tehran was shown completely destroyed in footage released by Iran International.
Iran’s top security official, Ali Larijani, vowed on social media: “We will not negotiate with the United States.” The Iranian government has maintained a near-total internet blackout since the war began, with reports emerging of Basij paramilitary forces firing on buildings after hearing anti-regime chants from Tehran residents.
What Comes Next
Four days into Operation Epic Fury, the conflict shows no signs of slowing. A source familiar with Israel’s war plan told Reuters that the campaign had been planned to last two weeks and was proceeding through its target list faster than expected. Trump’s stated four-to-five-week timeline suggests Washington is preparing for an extended engagement.
The key question now is whether Iran’s retaliatory capacity — already significantly degraded — can sustain further strikes against U.S. and allied targets in the Gulf, or whether Tehran will be forced to the negotiating table despite its public defiance.
With U.S. embassies shuttered, global energy markets in crisis, and the death toll mounting on all sides, the war on Iran has rapidly become the most consequential military conflict of the 21st century.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as the situation evolves.