After six months of war, what have US, Iran gained and lost?

Many of the US president’s goals remain unfulfilled, despite claims of victory. It has been six months since February 28, when the US and Israel shocked the world by launching missile strikes on Iran, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several senior Iranian officials in Tehran, as well as scores of children in a school in Minab, southern Iran. US President Donald Trump then claimed the conflict would only last “four to five weeks”. In the months since, the war has erupted on several other fronts, reaching as far as the Caspian Sea. It has triggered a global oil supply crisis as the US and Iran battle for control of the strategic Strait of Hormuz, through which more than one-fifth of oil and natural gas cargo transited.

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Scoop News DeskUs · Published Friday, August 28, 2026 at 12:37 PM UTCUpdated Saturday, August 29, 2026 at 5:43 PM UTC

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According to demands presented on the eve of the war, and a jumble of sometimes contradictory statements from Trump and senior US defence officials, they include the following: Despite Trump’s claim that the US had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear capabilities when it joined in at the end of Israel’s 12-day war on Iran in June 2025, the US and Israel again claimed in February that Tehran was just weeks away from developing nuclear weapons. On day one of the war – February 28 – the US killed Khamenei alongside several other senior officials.

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