← WW3 RISK TRACKER / THEATER: Iran War
Iran – Israel, USA, Gulf conflict
- The UAE suspended all trade and financial transactions with Iran following reported Iranian ballistic missile launches toward Emirati territory.
- Iran denied launching missiles toward the UAE and rejected Abu Dhabi's claims as diplomatic tensions escalated.
- Commercial maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz slowed as commercial vessels reportedly diverted to Omani territorial waters.
- The United States asserted control over maritime transit routes in the Strait of Hormuz while maintaining its naval blockade.
- U.S. officials urged allied nations, including South Korea, to provide military support for operations targeting Iran.
The confrontation expanded into a major economic rupture as the United Arab Emirates severed trade ties with Iran following a missile scare. U.S. forces maintained a maritime blockade around the Strait of Hormuz, forcing commercial shipping to alter transit routes.
Emirati air defense systems detected two ballistic missiles fired from Iranian territory toward the UAE, prompting high-level military alerts. Iranian officials denied responsibility for the launches. Meanwhile, U.S. naval units continued enforcing transit restrictions in the Strait of Hormuz, prompting merchant ships to seek alternative passage through Omani coastal waters.
Abu Dhabi suspended all bilateral trade and financial dealings with Tehran in response to the missile incident. Iranian diplomats publicly rejected the embargo and denied launching weapons toward UAE soil. Concurrently, the United States signaled a pause in direct talks while pressing allies to join maritime coalition efforts.
The breakdown in UAE-Iran economic relations disrupts a key regional trade corridor that previously survived prior military crises. Enforced blockade conditions in the Strait of Hormuz continue to reduce global shipping throughput and elevate operational risks for commercial tankers.
Direct cross-border missile incidents risk drawing Gulf Cooperation Council nations deeper into active combat operations alongside U.S. forces. Assessment: Regional conflict will intensify if Gulf states convert diplomatic and economic sanctions into direct military participation against Iran.
- 2026-08-19
UAE suspends trade and financial relations with Iran following reported missile launches.
The United Arab Emirates imposed an indefinite trade embargo and financial freeze on Iran after detecting two ballistic missiles launched from Iranian territory. Tehran denied responsibility for the attack, while commercial maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains severely constrained.
- 2026-08-17
U.S. and Iran fail to reach broad agreement as diplomatic deadline expires.
The June Memorandum of Understanding between Washington and Tehran expired on August 17 without a broad peace agreement. Direct and indirect negotiations deadlocked over Strait of Hormuz maritime blockade enforcement and ceasefire terms.
- 2026-08-14
US Navy deploys USS George Washington to the Middle East
The U.S. Navy deployed the aircraft carrier USS George Washington to the Middle East to relieve the long-deployed USS Abraham Lincoln.
4 more
- 2026-08-13
United States enforces Hormuz blockade while Tehran rejects American control claims
US CENTCOM forces redirected dozens of commercial vessels near the Strait of Hormuz as part of active blockade measures. Iranian officials disputed assertions of complete US control while commercial maritime transit through the chokepoint dropped to multi-month lows.
- 2026-08-12
Iran reports no progress in peace talks with U.S. amid Hormuz dispute
Iran stated that no progress has been made toward reviving an interim peace agreement with the United States. Negotiations remain stalled over maritime access and naval enforcement within the Strait of Hormuz.
- 2026-08-12
Iran rejects ceasefire extension with Washington as disputes over Strait of Hormuz control stall peace talks
Tehran publicly denied reports of extending a ceasefire with the United States, maintaining its refusal to compromise until its demands are met. The diplomatic impasse coincides with contesting assertions over maritime control and transit security in the Strait of Hormuz.
- 2026-08-12
U.S. forces fire on vessel ignoring Strait of Hormuz blockade amid frozen peace negotiations
U.S. forces reportedly engaged a commercial vessel that bypassed blockade parameters in the Strait of Hormuz. Concurrently, Iranian officials reported no progress toward extending or reviving interim peace arrangements with Washington.
COMMON QUESTIONS
Is Iran at war with Israel and the United States?
There is no declared war. Iran and Israel have exchanged direct military strikes, United States forces are engaged in the region, and the pressure extends to sanctions and to shipping through the Gulf. The index sits high because that fighting is real, not because war has been declared. Iran, Israel and the United States all appear as conflict parties in Geneva Academy's worldwide classification — the strikes register as interstate hostilities even without a declared war. The index reads 66/100 as of 1 January 1970 (active war); above 50 it grades the fighting itself rather than the risk of it.
How dangerous is the Iran and Israel, USA, Gulf situation right now?
The index reads 66/100 — active war. The scale is anchored on 22 historical episodes from 1914 to 2005, so the number means the same thing from one theater to the next. It is a measurement of what is reported, not a forecast.
How is the Iran and Israel, USA, Gulf risk index calculated?
By fixed formula from open-source reporting: events are extracted and graded by how well evidenced they are, scored across weighted factors, and the model never picks the number. How the index works, and what it does not measure, is explained at wwiii.report/methodology.
How often is this updated?
Every day. The report is rebuilt from that day's reporting and the index re-judged from it, and a fall is published only once the evidence confirms it.
Timeline events — hover the chart to read them
Timeline events — hover the chart to read them
Timeline events — hover the chart to read them
One 0–100 scale for the whole conflict. 0–49 is escalation before war; 50–100 is active war and how far it has gone.
50 is not a threshold the number can cross on its own. Which side a theater sits on is decided by whether verified belligerents are fighting there, so war onset always moves the score up across 50 — the number never declares a war by climbing.
It is a stage, not a probability: 42 is not a 42% chance of war. Below 50 it grades movement toward war, above 50 the war itself.
Why it moved, under the chart, names what changed in the latest move: the day’s readings — strikes, casualties, talks — and, when the conflict’s stage was re-judged, what was graded differently and the events behind it. Open it for the detail.
Re-judged from open reporting by fixed formula — the model never picks a number — and a fall publishes only once the evidence confirms it. A dot on the line is a day the stage itself moved. How it is made →
Direction — which way the week pushed. Severity — where the index sits. Connections — how much of the rest a shock here reaches. Cascade — that reach combined with how ready this theater is to go off.
The index reads the state of the conflict, not the volume of news. Each run grades the factors listed below against fixed rubrics, and the score follows by formula.
So a dramatic headline moves nothing unless it changes a grade. A theater already graded for recurring incursions absorbs one more without moving — it is priced in.
Open How this was measured for every grade, its movement since the last run, and the events behind it. Full construction →
A different measurement from the score above, from a different source. This line counts how much of the world's news reports conflict between these two states, against their own long-run normal: 100 is normal, 200 is twice the usual level.
It is computed mechanically from the GDELT Project's open event stream every 15 minutes and never touches the assessed index above — when both move together, that agreement is the signal. A day with too few events shows no reading rather than a guess. Click the chart for the full history.
Data: the GDELT Project.