What’s Really Happening with the Iran War?

Well, what is actually going on as it regards the US/Israeli war with Iran and how does any of this relate to Black people? 

Recall that Ali Khamenei, who was the Supreme Leader of Iran from 1989 until his death in February 2026, was confirmed to have been killed by Israeli-US air strikes on February 28, 2026. Additionally, the US bombed girls' school in Minab, Iran with a tomahawk missile, killing between 165 and 175 students and staff. as confirmed by US General Dan Caine, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff on March 2nd. However, US President Trump claimed that the Iran bombed their own school.

Iran responded the following day by firing missiles at Tel-Aviv and Jerusalem, Israel as well as US military sites in Bahrain, UAE and Kuwait. Interestingly, all US and western news outlets have reported that Iran has been altogether ineffective in responding and/or defending itself.

However, a few eastern news outlets presented reports that tell a very different story. 

H2 and senate communication offices were reportedly struck by Iranian Fattah hypersonic missiles in Bahrain. Note that these missiles travel at more than 5 times the speed of sound and can maneuver mid-flight, therefore a target has very little notice that the missiles have been deployed and it is more challenging for US defense systems to strike them. IRGC Shahed drones have also been deployed.

Iran launched widespread retaliatory strikes in March and April, targeting Israel and several Middle Eastern nations hosting US forces. In total, Iran has struck Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Israel.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) suffered significant strikes, including drone and missile attacks on Abu Dhabi's Al Dhafra Air Base, Dubai International Airport, and industrial sites.

Also, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman were all targeted with missiles and drones, focusing on U.S. military installations and energy infrastructure. This includes an Aramco oil refinery in Saudi Arabia was hit, given that Saudi Arabia reportedly pressured Trump, along with Israel to attack Iran. Iran also successfully struck a US embassy as well as a CIA station in Saudi Arabia.

Israel has been struck by multiple dozens of retaliatory missile and drone attacks from Iran, alongside attacks by Iranian-backed groups (Houthis). Iran also reportedly struck the office of Israeli PM Netanyahu and reported that he was either be dead or critically injured. Since this air strike many have had questions about his whereabouts and whether or not he is alive.

Additionally, attacks impacted regions in Iraq and Syria, with drones even being reported near British bases in Cyprus.

As of mid-April 2026, the attacks involved hundreds of missiles and drones, heavily affecting regional stability, shipping, and infrastructure, particularly in the UAE and Bahrain.
As a result, as of April 8, US bases in both Bahrain and Iraq have reportedly been evacuated.

Note that Iran also claimed to down 2 US fighter jets in addition to 5 missiles and drones and 15 US troops were reported as wounded on April 3rd alone. 

As of April 5, Iran claimed that there are actually 750 US soldier casualties. Additionally, they claim to have taken down a US made Lucas drone which was inspired by Iranian Shahed drones and was intended to be a more expendable option for the US in lieu of their larger, high-cost unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

Furthermore, as of April 5th, Iran claimed to have downed a total of 9 US fighter jets, which included:

4 F-15s (3 in Kuwait, 1 in Tehran)
2 F-16s (1 in the central region, 1 in the south)
1 F-18 (1 in the south)
2 F-35s (1 in the south, 1 in the central region

Lastly, after Ali Khamenei was killed by Israeli-US air strikes on February 28, Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz the next day, thus disrupting roughly a fifth of globally traded oil and liquid natural gas overnight. Therefore, prices didn’t just spike, but gaped violently upward from fear alone, noting that this is the first time in history that the strait has been closed. 

Note that a great deal of this wasn’t previously reported in any western media outlets and actual damage to US bases has only recently been reported. Now it is clearer why the US called for a cease fire and issued a somewhat cryptic threat of a nuclear strike, which would invariably start WWIII, given that China and Russia are allies of Iran.

But how does any of this relate to Black people? Well, apparently the Iranian revolution came out of Black struggles. Note that in 1961, the same year that Franz Fanon published his book Wretched of the Earth, a young Iranian student named Ali Shariati, who was studying at the Sorbonne in France, happened to read his book. It just so happened that Shariati came from Mashhad, Iran where he and his father were founding members of an underground movement that supported Iran's nationalist leader Mohammad Mosaddegh, who was overthrown in a coup by the CIA and British intelligence in 1953.

Shariati served as the primary figure to bring Fanon to Iranian revolutionary consciousness, given that he translated Wretched of the Earth from French into Persian then taught the tenets of this book. This served to form the foundation of the Iranian revolution in 1979. Even the revolutionary language of the Islamic Republic of Iran was taken partly from a word that Ali Shariati borrowed from Franz Fanon, whose face appeared on the walls of Tehran during the Iranian Revolution.

Also in 1979, after the start of the revolution, Iran chose Malcolm X to be on an Iranian postal stamp, thus serving as the face of the nation's Universal Day of Struggle Against Race Discrimination.

This gives context to Iranian students who stormed the US embassy in Tehran and took 66 American hostages, most of whom were held for 444 days but released all African-American and female hostages within a matter of days of the crisis. The students stated that they were acting in solidarity with oppressed minorities in the US.

Therefore, we can see why Iran even refers to its fighting forces as the IRGC, which is the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. They are in fact revolutionaries, whose world view has mirrored that of Black revolutionaries. This is why the Iran War hold significance to Black people, whether this understanding is conscious or unconscious.