Iran has struck 14 Middle Eastern nations since the war began

Since the United States and Israel first struck Iran, the war has drawn in at least 14 other countries that were not original parties to the conflict.Some are officially neutral, while others are vocal critics of the regime. Yet all have absorbed Iranian missile and drone attacks since the conflict began in February.Israel has the most to gain through the war. Israeli pilots have flown thousands of combat sorties, including in the joint U.S.-Israeli operation that killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The country has also borne the brunt of Iranian missile strikes.

Yet Iran’s retaliation has not been confined to the U.S. and Israel alone. Iran has readily struck nearby countries, many of whom it maintained friendly relations with before the war.Below is a breakdown of the Middle Eastern nations that have been entangled in the war since it began in February.Israel

Tents, mattresses and children’s toys are spread across an underground parking garage where people spend the night as a precaution against possible Iranian missile attacks in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, March 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made a political career around being hawkish on Iran. During one fiery United Nations speech in 2012, Netanyahu held up a poster of a bomb with a lit fuse. He then took out a marker and implored the world to draw a “red line” on Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.Trump, too, has spent years warning about Iran’s nuclear program. He was an early and vocal critic of President Barack Obama’s ill-fated nuclear deal. Yet critics of the war have claimed that Netanyahu forced Trump’s hand, allegations that the U.S. president has rebuffed.“I heard that the other day for the very first time, I said, ‘He tricked me?’ I’m the one that started it because, again, I don’t wanna bore anybody, but I started it because we can’t let them have a nuclear weapon,” Trump told the New York Post in June.The U.S. and Israel worked closely during the opening stages of the war. The two countries have a longtime intelligence sharing agreement, and American forces have helped shoot down Iranian missiles and drones headed for Israel. The U.S. has also parked refueling tankers at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport.Israel has refrained from joining the current round of fighting over the Strait of Hormuz.Jordan