The War Enters Its Second Week — And It’s Only Getting Bigger
As the clock ticks past midnight on March 7, 2026, Operation Epic Fury — the joint US-Israeli military campaign against Iran — has officially entered its second week. And if anyone expected the pace to slow down, they were dead wrong.
President Donald Trump made his position crystal clear on Friday: the only acceptable outcome is Iran’s “unconditional surrender.” That declaration came just hours after Iran’s president revealed that unnamed countries had begun back-channel mediation efforts — a flicker of diplomatic hope that Trump promptly extinguished.
The numbers tell the story of an unprecedented aerial campaign. The US military has struck more than 3,000 targets since February 28. Israel claims to have destroyed 80% of Iran’s air defense systems and disabled over 60% of its missile launchers. According to CSIS, the estimated cost of just the first 100 hours of Epic Fury sits at a staggering $3.7 billion.
CENTCOM: ‘We Control the Skies’
US Central Command isn’t mincing words. In a statement released Thursday, CENTCOM declared that “US forces control the skies” as the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group continues round-the-clock operations in support of Epic Fury.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth traveled to CENTCOM headquarters at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa on Thursday to meet with CENTCOM Commander Admiral Brad Cooper. The message from both was clear: the campaign is accelerating, not winding down.
“At the moment, we’re now up over 30 ships,” Admiral Cooper said during a briefing. “In just the last few hours, we hit an Iranian drone carrier ship roughly the size of a World War Two aircraft carrier. And as we speak, it’s on fire.”
Cooper added a chilling detail about the campaign’s expanding scope: “The president gave us another task to raze Iran’s ballistic missile industrial base. So we’re not just hitting what they have. We’re destroying their ability to rebuild.”
According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), the combined force has now advanced to what officials describe as Phase Two of the campaign — shifting focus from suppressing Iranian air defenses and launch sites to systematically dismantling Iran’s defense industrial complex, particularly its missile production facilities.
Iran Fights Back — With Everything It Has Left
Iran is far from a passive target. A military source told Iran’s Fars News Agency on March 5 that Tehran had fired over 500 ballistic and naval missiles and nearly 2,000 drones since the war began on February 28.
The retaliatory strikes are hitting far beyond Israel. In a dramatic widening of the conflict, Iran has launched attacks on US bases and allied nations across the Gulf:
- Bahrain: Seven Iranian attack drones targeted residential neighborhoods. One was intercepted near a tower housing Israel’s embassy. Britain responded by deploying Royal Air Force fighter jets to defend Bahrain.
- United Arab Emirates: On Friday alone, the UAE intercepted 109 drones and 9 ballistic missiles fired from Iran.
- Saudi Arabia: Multiple attacks hit Prince Sultan Air Base (intercepted) and the Ras Tanura oil refinery. Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman warned Iran against “miscalculation.”
- Qatar: Forces intercepted a drone targeting Al-Udeid Air Base, one of the largest US military installations in the Middle East.
- Kuwait and Jordan: Both countries reported incoming Iranian fire targeting facilities hosting US personnel.
Six US service members have been killed in action so far. In Israel, Iranian attacks have killed 11 people since the conflict began.
Israel Expands the War Into Lebanon
As if the Iran theater wasn’t enough, the conflict has metastasized. Israel launched massive strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs — the Dahiyeh district, a Hezbollah stronghold — after ordering an unprecedented evacuation of the area.
The Israeli Defense Forces said 50 warplanes participated in a strike targeting a bunker still being used by Iran’s leadership beneath the destroyed compound of slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran. Meanwhile, Israel’s army chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, declared that Israel has entered a “new phase” of its offensive.
Hezbollah responded with a defiant message on Telegram: “Your military’s aggression against Lebanese sovereignty and safe citizens, the destruction of civilian infrastructure, and the expulsion campaign it is carrying out will not go unchallenged.”
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, warned that Lebanon is becoming a “key flashpoint” and called for an immediate cessation of hostilities. The Norwegian Refugee Council reports that 300,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon in just four days.
The Human Cost Is Mounting
The casualty figures are staggering and climbing fast. Iran’s UN ambassador, Amir Saeid Iravani, citing the Iranian Red Crescent Society, said at least 1,332 people have been killed in Iran since strikes began on February 28.
Among the dead: Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, killed in the opening salvo on February 28, and more than 160 people in a single strike on a girls’ school that satellite imagery later showed was far more extensive than initially reported.
The UN refugee agency reports that approximately 100,000 people fled Tehran in just the first two days of the campaign. In Lebanon, the health ministry has reported 123 people killed and 683 wounded from Israeli attacks.
Mehrabad Airport in Tehran was struck early Saturday, according to Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency — further disrupting any ability for civilians to evacuate.
Russia Is Feeding Iran Intelligence
In a development that has raised alarm bells in Washington, multiple news reports indicate that Russia has been sharing intelligence with Iran about US targets in the region.
Secretary Hegseth’s response was characteristically blunt: the US is “not concerned” and is “tracking everything” and factoring Russian intelligence-sharing into battle plans.
The revelation adds another layer of geopolitical complexity to an already sprawling conflict. While the UK, France, and other NATO allies have largely stayed on the sidelines, Britain’s decision to fly RAF fighters over Bahrain signals a potential widening of Western involvement.
Economic Shockwaves: Oil Surges, Markets Tumble
The global economy is feeling every missile strike.
Brent crude surged to $92.69 per barrel on Friday — up 8.5% in a single day and nearly 30% for the week. West Texas Intermediate topped $90 per barrel with its biggest weekly gain on record.
The reason? The Strait of Hormuz — through which a fifth of the world’s crude oil and liquefied natural gas flows — is effectively closed. Maritime traffic has all but dried up.
European and US stock indexes tumbled on Friday as investors processed Trump’s demand for unconditional surrender, which many analysts see as a signal that this war won’t be ending any time soon.
The only bright spot for commercial aviation: Emirates operated its first departure from Dubai since the war began — a flight to Mumbai on Monday — though most regional airspace remains heavily restricted.
Trump’s Endgame: Regime Change
President Trump has not been shy about his war aims. In an interview with Time Magazine, he acknowledged that Iran could conduct retaliatory attacks on US soil, saying “some people will die. When you go to war, some people will die.”
Perhaps most provocatively, Trump declared that he must have a say in selecting Iran’s new supreme leader. Iran’s UN ambassador fired back immediately, saying the new leadership would be chosen “without any foreign interference.”
Trump initially projected the campaign would last “four to five weeks,” telling reporters it “won’t be difficult” for the US and Israel to achieve their objectives. The White House has described Operation Epic Fury as having already delivered “twice the air power of ‘Shock and Awe’ of Iraq in 2003.”
Meanwhile, Senate Republicans blocked a War Powers resolution on Thursday that would have imposed limits on the operation — giving the administration a free hand to continue and escalate.
The State Department has issued evacuation guidance for Americans in 14 Middle Eastern countries, including Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon, Israel, and the Palestinian territories.
What Comes Next?
As Epic Fury enters its second week, the campaign shows no signs of slowing. Phase Two — targeting Iran’s missile production infrastructure — is just getting started. Iran continues to fire back with everything it has, but its capabilities are degrading daily.
The big questions remain: Can Iran sustain its retaliatory campaign? Will Hezbollah’s involvement drag Lebanon into a full-scale war? Will Russian intelligence-sharing change the calculus? And perhaps most importantly — what does a post-war Iran actually look like?
For now, the bombs keep falling, the missiles keep flying, and the world watches the most significant military operation in the Middle East since the 2003 invasion of Iraq unfold in real time.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as the situation evolves.