US-Iran: more than four decades of enmity

This combination of video grabs taken from UGC images. [AFP]

The United States and Iran have been sworn enemies since the 1979 Islamic Revolution and the hostage crisis at the US embassy in Tehran.

Saturday's US and Israeli strikes mark only the latest in a series of conflicts.

1979: hostage crisis

On November 4, 1979, student activists demanding the extradition of Iran's deposed monarch, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who was undergoing medical treatment in the US, take staff hostage at the US embassy in Tehran.

The move comes seven months after the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Some 52 hostages are held for 444 days.

In April 1980, Washington breaks off diplomatic relations with Iran and imposes restrictions on commerce and travel. Nine months later, the last hostages are released.

2002: 'axis of evil'

On April 30, 1995, US president Bill Clinton announces a complete ban on trade and investment with Iran, accusing it of supporting "terrorism".

The US cites Iran's backing of regional militant groups including Hezbollah, Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Foreign companies that invest in Iran's oil and gas sector are targeted.

On January 29, 2002, US president George W. Bush says Iran, Iraq and North Korea belong to an "axis of evil" supporting "terrorism".

In April 2019, the US designates Iran's elite military force, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a "terrorist organisation".

2018: US walks out of nuclear deal

In the early 2000s, revelations of the existence of undeclared nuclear sites in Iran spark fears Tehran is trying to make nuclear weapons, claims it denies.

A 2011 report by UN nuclear watchdog IAEA, collating "broadly credible" intelligence, says that Iran "carried out activities relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device" until at least 2003.

In 2005, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ends a freeze on uranium enrichment. Tehran insists its nuclear programme is solely for civilian purposes.

A decade later, an accord with six world powers -- China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States -- on Iran's nuclear programme is reached in Vienna.

It gives Tehran relief from crippling economic sanctions in exchange for guarantees that it will not make an atomic bomb. The deal is endorsed by the United Nations.

US President Donald Trump pulls out of the pact in 2018, reinstating sanctions on Iran and companies with ties to it.

A year later Iran starts to backtrack on some of its commitments under the deal.

Diplomatic efforts fail to bear fruit. UN sanctions are reimposed on September 28, 2025. The accord lapses in October.

2020: top general killed

On January 3, 2020, the US kills top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad.

Trump says Soleimani had been planning an "imminent" attack on US diplomats and forces in Iraq.

Iran retaliates with missile strikes on bases in Iraq hosting American forces.

2025: nuclear sites bombed

During the 12-day war between Israel and Iran, the US strikes three major Iranian nuclear sites on June 21, 2025.

Trump says the sites have been "obliterated", but the true extent of the damage is not known.

2026: 'armada' in the Gulf

Trump threatens to strike Iran in response to its bloody crackdown on a massive protest movement that began in late December 2025, though the focus of his threats soon shifts to Tehran's nuclear programme.

He sends a US "armada" to the region.

The two countries resume indirect talks under Omani mediation in early February 2026.

Washington urges Iran to negotiate a deal to avoid strikes. Tehran wants to limit the talks to its nuclear programme, while Washington wants them to also cover its ballistic missiles and support for armed groups in the region.

On February 19 Trump says he is giving "10, 15 days, pretty much maximum" to reach an agreement, "otherwise bad things happen". On February 28, he announces the launch of "major combat operations", as Israel strikes Iran too.