美国在该地区部署约40,000名军队，集结了自2003年伊拉克入侵以来最大规模海军力量。美国海军最新、最大的航空母舰 USS Gerald R Ford 本周在地中海（周五于以色列北部海岸附近发现），另有 USS Abraham Lincoln 航母打击群在阿曼海域；每个打击群含一艘航母和三艘导弹驱逐舰，配有 F-18、E-2 早期预警机、运输机，Ford 还搭载 F-35。美军在中东有8个永久基地，并可使用约12个其他军事点，含巴林、科威特、卡塔尔及阿联酋；另有在埃及、伊拉克、约旦、阿曼、沙特阿拉伯和叙利亚。最大基地是卡塔尔的 Al Udeid，驻军约10,000人。美国还增派 THAAD 与 Patriot 防空系统，但拦截弹库存在2025年战争及此前空袭中已明显下降。美国此前在伊朗六月战役中击中的三座核设施引发了伊朗报复。
伊朗革命卫队称其已“重拳”打击巴林、卡塔尔和阿联酋的美国基地，以及以色列的军事和安全机构。卡塔尔称已拦截并中和三波来袭导弹，约旦拦截两枚弹道导弹；沙特报告伊朗袭击了利雅得及其油气富集的东部省，科威特称无人机击中其国际机场，损失有限。以色列宣布紧急状态并关闭空域，拦截了多数来袭导弹，但仍有碎片造成人员轻伤。伊朗现已在6月后重建导弹库存，在上次短暂对以冲突中曾发射500余枚导弹，现估计双方库存为数千枚，可能维持齐射。分析人士预计报复会保持校准式，但伊朗持续发射与美以拦截弹耗尽的并存提高了升级风险。油市亦反应敏感：布伦特原油周五上涨3%，触及七个月高点约73美元/桶（约0.46美元/升）；过去一个月累计上涨约12%，但仍低于6月12天战争期间短暂突破80美元的水平。伊朗仅占全球原油约2%出口，但通过霍尔木兹海峡影响去年约30%的全球海运油运量，因此任何航道中断预期都可能推高风险溢价。
Saturday saw explosions across Iran and alarms in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem as Israel and the US launched a major operation against Iran. Israeli defense minister Israel Katz called it “Operation Roar of the Lion,” and the US called it “Operation Epic Fury,” while US President Donald Trump warned Iran’s regime not to challenge US armed power. Iran’s state TV confirmed that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, supreme leader for nearly four decades, had been killed. Strikes hit the Pasteur Street area near Iran’s presidential administration in Tehran and were also reported in Isfahan, Kermanshah, and Shiraz. Local judiciary figures said 108 people were killed in a strike on a school in Minab. Most of the Saturday attacks occurred before 1 p.m. Tehran time. At the same time, Israel continued strikes in southern Lebanon and warned Hezbollah not to rush to defend Iran.
The United States has about 40,000 troops in the region and has assembled its largest naval force there since 2003. The USS Gerald R. Ford, the newest and largest carrier, was in the Mediterranean, and the USS Abraham Lincoln strike group was off Oman; each includes one carrier and three guided-missile destroyers, with aircraft such as F-18s, E-2 early-warning aircraft, cargo planes, and F-35s on the Ford. The US maintains eight permanent bases in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and the UAE, and access to about a dozen other facilities in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar is the largest, with about 10,000 troops. The US added THAAD and Patriot systems, but interceptor stocks were depleted during 2025 fighting and earlier assaults.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said it had hit US bases in Bahrain, Qatar and the UAE hard, and military/security centres in Israel. Qatar said it intercepted three waves of missiles and Jordan intercepted two ballistic missiles; Saudi Arabia and Kuwait reported attacks on Riyadh’s eastern province and an international airport. Israel declared an emergency, shut its airspace, and intercepted most missiles, though some shrapnel caused injuries. Iran had already fired more than 500 missiles in the June campaign and experts say combined stocks may now be in the thousands, enabling an extended salvo war. Risk remains high as missile attacks rise while interceptor supplies are low. Oil markets reacted accordingly: Brent rose 3% to about $73 per barrel (about US$0.46 per litre), up nearly 12% over the month, yet still below the brief 12-day-war peak above $80. Iran supplies about 2% of global oil, but controls the Strait of Hormuz, through which around 30% of global seaborne oil passed last year.