Gulf Region / Tehran / Washington — The Iran war has exploded into a full‑scale regional showdown as two US supercarriers and a web of American and allied bases across the Middle East unleash a massive wave of air and missile strikes on Iranian targets, while the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps fires back with its own barrages.

From the Arabian Sea to the eastern Mediterranean, the USS Gerald R. Ford and USS Abraham Lincoln are launching round‑the‑clock sorties: F‑35s, F/A‑18s and B‑1 bombers hammering air‑defence sites, missile brigades and IRGC command centers near Tehran, Isfahan and along the Gulf coast. Patriot and THAAD batteries flare to life as Iran responds with volleys of drones and ballistic missiles aimed at US bases in Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and the UAE.

Residents in Gulf capitals report nights lit by interceptor streaks and distant fireballs as explosions rumble from restricted military zones. In Iran, state TV shows burning hangars and crumpled runways, vowing that “every base that launches aggression will feel the answer of the Revolution.” The Pentagon insists its campaign is degrading Iran’s capacity to strike, but concedes that American and coalition forces have taken “non‑trivial losses.”

Oil prices are surging, shipping lanes are under threat and European diplomats are scrambling for an emergency ceasefire that neither side seems ready to accept. With US supercarriers now at the center of a relentless strike machine and the IRGC promising “waves of revenge,” the key question is no longer whether the region is at war — but whether anyone still has the will, or the leverage, to pull it back from the brink.