The Middle East conflict has escalated in a drastic manner to give rise to a direct confrontation after the US and Iran chose to trade heavy military strikes, giving rise to an Iranian declaration that the Strait of Hormuz is completely shut down.
The situation is still very fluid as the US President has since claimed that a breakthrough in peace negotiations and then chose to call off further scheduled bombardments.
The most recent flare-up of the 2026 Iran War started after a US Apache helicopter crashed near the Strait of Hormuz, which the US claimed was downed by Iran. Therefore, the US CENTCOM center rolled out several self-defense precision strikes targeting Iranian air defenses.
Iran executed a swift doctrine of retaliation by launching over 20 missiles and drone attacks at US military assets across the region.