Threat from Iran conflict spreads across Middle East in 72 hours

Source: Washington Post

Middle East

Threat from Iran conflict spreads across Middle East in 72 hours

In less than three days, the conflict ricocheted beyond the original targets in Iran, Israel and Iraq to threaten some 300 million civilians across more than a dozen nations.

Updated
March 3, 2026 at 12:59 a.m. EST


Men in Beit Shemesh, Israel, look upon a scene Sunday of a deadly Iranian missile strike that hit a bomb shelter below a synagogue. (Heidi Levine/For The Washington Post)

By Steve Hendrix and Heidi Levine

BEIT SHEMESH, Israel — Even before U.S. and Israeli warplanes struck Iranian targets, officials in Washington and Jerusalem were bracing for retaliation. They had gamed out missile salvos, cyberattacks, proxy strikes on U.S. bases and Israeli cities. What few seemed prepared for was the speed — and the geographic sprawl — of the blowback: some 300 million civilians, across more than a dozen nations, suddenly under the umbrella of an escalating war.

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Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/03/02/mideast-iran-israel-war-civilians/