TEHRAN, July 19 — The year 2026 has brought a direct military confrontation between Iran and the United States — an escalation that did not happen overnight. Decades of mistrust, covert operations, proxy wars, and failed diplomatic overtures have built a timeline that now reaches a new and dangerous chapter. Many Iranians trace the roots of today’s animosity to 1953.
That year, the CIA and MI6 jointly orchestrated Operation Ajax, a coup that overthrew Iran’s democratically elected prime minister. The operation reinstalled the Shah, a ruler whose close ties to Washington would fuel resentment for a generation.
The 1979 Islamic Revolution changed everything. Ayatollah Khomeini came to power, and a group of students seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, taking dozens of American hostages. The crisis lasted 444 days, poisoning relations for years to come.
During the 1980s, the Iran-Iraq War gave Washington a new calculus. The United States tilted toward Iraq, even providing intelligence that helped Saddam Hussein deploy chemical weapons against Iranian troops.
In 1988, the USS Vincennes shot down Iran Air Flight 655, killing all civilians aboard. The tragedy remains a deep wound here.
The Shadow War Takes Shape
Through the 1990s, the administration pursued a policy of “dual containment” against both Iran and Iraq. After the September 11 attacks, President George W. Bush labeled Iran part of an “Axis of Evil” in his State of the Union address.
The following year, the U.S. invasion of Iraq inadvertently empowered Shia factions closely tied to Tehran — a strategic gift that Iran leveraged across the region. Proxy conflicts became the primary battlefield.
In 1982, Iran’s support helped create Hezbollah in Lebanon. Beginning in 2014, the Houthi movement in Yemen received backing from Tehran, opening another front against U.S. allies. These networks allowed Iran to project power without direct confrontation — until they didn’t.
The Nuclear Deal and Its Collapse
In 2015, the administration, along with the other P5+1 powers, signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran. The deal limited Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. For a time, it offered a path away from conflict.
President Trump withdrew the United States from the JCPOA in 2018, reimposing sanctions. Over the following years, a shadow war erupted: tanker attacks in the Persian Gulf, the downing of a U.S. drone by Iran, and the killing of Iran’s top general, Qasem Soleimani, in a U.S. drone strike.
Iran responded with missile attacks on Iraqi bases housing American troops. Negotiations to revive the nuclear deal dragged on from 2021 to 2025, ultimately failing. During that period, Iran advanced its enrichment program to 60% purity — a level just a technical step from weapons-grade material.
2026 — Direct Military Escalation
Now, in 2026, the long-simmering hostility has boiled over into direct military action between the two nations. The details remain fluid, but the trajectory is clear: a conflict shaped by more than seven decades of grievances, miscalculations, and missed chances. For the families in Tehran and across the Middle East, this is not a new war — it is the latest chapter in a story whose first lines were written long ago.
The question now is where the next one will lead.
