War with Iran: Middle East in flames

What It Covers

The Economist's correspondents and defense editor analyze the U.S.-Israeli military strike on Iran, covering the killing of Supreme Leader Khamenei, Iran's retaliatory missile campaign across Gulf states, succession dynamics within the Iranian regime, and the escalating risk of a broader regional war.

Key Questions Answered

• •Regime succession mechanics: Iran's constitution designates a three-person leadership council — the president, chief justice, and a cleric — to govern as an interim body until a new supreme leader is appointed. Ayatollah Arafi and parliament speaker Ghalibaf are identified as leading contenders, but pre-planned successors were already installed at the IRGC and defense ministry within hours of the strikes.
• •Iran's missile strategy: Iran has shifted the bulk of its fire toward Gulf states rather than Israel, firing over 130 missiles at the UAE and dozens at Bahrain and Qatar on day one alone. The logic is coercive: by targeting civilian airports, hotels, and oil infrastructure, Iran aims to pressure Gulf governments into lobbying Trump to end the war rather than sustain it.
• •Interceptor missile depletion risk: Israel and Gulf states can likely sustain missile defense interceptions for roughly one week before gaps begin opening in their defensive coverage. Both sides face a parallel constraint — Iran must conserve its launcher stockpile while avoiding airstrikes, while defenders must ration interceptors against a sustained, decentralized Iranian launch campaign.
• •Gulf states' escalation threshold: Saudi Arabia and the UAE initially refused to allow U.S. warplanes to use their bases for offensive strikes against Iran. That prohibition is now under active reconsideration. A likely first step toward involvement is lifting base-use restrictions for American aircraft, with direct Gulf military participation remaining unlikely due to limited combat experience against a state adversary.
• •Nuclear program status: Despite the war's origins in nuclear concerns, highly enriched uranium stockpiles remain largely buried under rubble from last year's conflict and have not been addressed by current strikes. The Economist's defense editor assesses that Iran was not meaningfully advancing toward nuclear weapons capability and that opportunity and regime weakness — not nuclear urgency — drove the timing of the attack.